If you trace back the heritage of an egg in your refrigerator
it would be something like: this egg was born of a chicken which
was hatched from an egg which was born of a chicken which was
hatched from an egg and so on. It would eventually be traced back
through some bizarre evolutionary channel until it would reach
some sort of an ancestral chicken-type animal that was not born
of an egg at all, but more likely through a series of cell divisions
and conglomerations. An egg, of course, could not simple appear
out of thin air, unless it was created through a series
of cell divisions...which, in that case, would make the egg first.
Whatever.
In recent years eggs have acquired somewhat of a bad food reputation. While it is true the yolk of an egg has a large amount of cholesterol, eggs can be safely included into a "healthy diet" when eaten with moderation. According to the American Egg Board a person with a healthy diet can safely consume up to four eggs a week. This doesn't, I'm sure, mean that an individual should consume the allotted four eggs all in one sitting. Again, the key is moderation--eggs are nothing to be feared. Many people have already reduced the amount of eggs in their diet, but imagine for a minute life without the amazing egg. Automatically one will think of the obvious: eggs and omelets at breakfast. But what about the moist cakes which are partially leavened by eggs, and chocolate chip cookies that are so cherished by this author. There would be no soufflé or mayonnaise (real mayonnaise, not the "reduced fat" type). Breading on the legendary Buffalo Fish Fry would flake off before the fish were cooked. Delectable desserts such as crème caramel, crème broûlet and crêpes would be no more. The finish on many baked goods would have a dull, lackluster appearance, and ravioli would separate spilling their delectable fillings into the boiling water. This is a culinary world I personally hope we never have to endure.
Eggs are commonplace in virtually every corner of the world and are truly an international food. They have always held equally high status in households as well as the kitchens of great restaurants. Around the turn of this century, for example, in the book Le Guide de Culinaire, written by great chef Auguste Escoffier, there are more than 140 recipes for egg cookery. And in the 1950's the infamous chef Fernand Point (mentor to some of the most famous chefs in the world, including those which started Cuisine Nouveau--Paul Bocouse, the Troisgros brothers and Alain Chapel) actually judged the skill of cooks and chefs on two things: how well they could fry and egg and roast a chicken. He took this to such an extent that he was known to enter a restaurant and not look at the menu but simply tell the waiter that Fernand Point was here and would like a fried egg. Monsieur Point was also known for his extravagant use of butter and obsessive concerns for the freshness of ingredients. He would not, for example, cook with eggs that were not laid that day, and considered butter useless if it were churned more than 72 hours prior. Madeleine Kamman, famed chef, teacher, author and culinary inspiration, views eggs so important that she unconventionally lists egg cookery towards the beginnings of her books. She also makes note of the importance of eggs in all cuisines and often refers to them as a "miracle in a shell."
Eggs have also held an important place in many cultures. The ancient Phoenicians believed that it was a primeval egg that split open and formed the earth and heavens above. Some tribes of American Indians thought the earth was created by the Great Spirit which, herself, had burst forth from a giant egg. The Egyptians, on the other hand, believed that their God, Ptah, used the sun and the moon to create the egg.
Maybe the egg did come first.
