Eggs: an abundance of riches.

The spark that lit humanity's love affair with eggs ignited long before there was written evidence to document it Eggs were so revered by some ancient cultures that its people were forbidden to consume them. For the Hebrews, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and many others, the egg not only played a part in ancient creationist stories, it was the very symbol of creation itself. In some religions, the egg represents fertility, life, and even resurrection. Early Germans and Slavs coated their hoes with egg-wash to ensure a productive harvest. Egyptians hung eggs throughout their temples to encourage fertility. Jews serve eggs at Passover to symbolize sacrifice and rebirth. Some Aboriginal groups believe they are descendents of the emu and consider it taboo to consume the bird's eggs. Ancient Asian cultures used eggs for divining purposes by reading their futures in the cracks that emerged after the egg was colored and boiled. In one story of genesis, the egg was laid by a mystical water bird swimming in the primordial ocean of creation. The universe emerged from her egg with the shell representing the limitless sky, the inner membrane the air, the albumen the oceans, and the yolk the earth. "Yet, who can help loving the land that taught us Six hundred and eighty-five ways to dress eggs?"

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Mythical tales of the universe's origin may be nothing more than ethereal stories to the modern chef, but there are parallels to be drawn between the present and the past. Is the egg not the universe for the contemporary pastry chef? Without the egg, what would the first meal of the day be for billions of breakfast lovers around the world? Modern chefs who deem the egg worthy of more than just a brunch staple are giving it top-billing on their lunch and dinner menus.

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Humanity has always adored the egg. It remains as fundamental to the recipes of the contemporary culinary scene as it did to those scattered throughout our ancient past. The answer to the question of why we are so passionate about the egg is both simple and complex all at once, much like the structure of the egg itself. Eggs are easy to obtain, adaptable to a wide array of recipes, comply with religious fasting days, and perhaps most importantly, the egg is the least expensive form of perfect nutrition available to nearly every culture on earth.

The egg's ancient origins

The chicken was one of the first domesticated animals. Domestication took place in China in about 1400 B.C., and in Europe about 800 years later. Ever since, eggs have appeared in the earliest recorded recipes. Ancient Egyptians incorporated eggs in their pastries, and Romans included them in custards, pastries and savory dishes. They enjoyed their eggs hard boiled, and served with rose petals and fowl's brains. They ate them raw by first piercing two holes in the shell with the tip of a cochlear spoon (a utensil originally intended for snail consumption), and then sucking the shell's contents from one of the holes. At one point, it was illegal to eat eggs in Rome because they were considered potential birds, and therefore too valuable for consumption. As they expanded their empire, ancient Romans recorded egg consumption in every corner of Europe, including England, Germany, and Gaul.

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The chicken first arrived in the Americas with Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. In Medieval Europe, eggs were enjoyed by the wealthy and the peasantry alike. During the French Revolution, egg use virtually disappeared because it was illegal to eat eggs during the food shortages of this period. Since the French had invented 685 ways to prepare eggs by this point, it was a hard habit to break. The pastry chef Dubois ran what was essentially an "egg speakeasy" in his cellar, where he secretly stockpiled over 3000 eggs for use in his pastries. The chef was subsequently arrested once his supply was discovered.

The chicken is not history's exclusive egg supplier. Romans enjoyed peafowl eggs, whereas the Chinese preferred those of the pigeon. Ostrich eggs, the second most consumed egg in the modern world, have been consumed since Phoenician times, as have quail eggs. Other varieties of eggs consumed throughout history have come from the pelican, duck, goose, plover, partridge, gull, turkey, peacock, pheasant, and turtle. In especially hard times, even alligator eggs have found their way to the plate.

The chicken and the egg

The eggs of other birds and even the occasional reptile might appear in contemporary recipes from time to time, but the chicken egg reigns supreme. The most consumed egg on the planet comes from a very dedicated, hard working bird. A chicken reaches reproductive age between four to six months of age. Her reproductive effort, which is the percentage of body weight that an animal deposits into its offspring, is 100 times greater than that of a human. She devotes a quarter of her daily energy-expenditure to egg production, and lays an average of 300 eggs per year. To produce a dozen eggs, a hen must consume four pounds of chicken feed, and it takes between 24-26 hours to produce each egg. A mother hen rotates her laid eggs about 50 times per day in order to prevent the yolk from shifting from the center of the egg. It is her diet that determines the shade of the yolk. An intake that's rich in alfalfa and corn produces a darker hue. Marigold leaves are sometimes added to the feed to further intensify the deep golden color. As a hen ages, the size of her eggs increase.

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The color of the egg's shell has no baring on the flavor of the egg. Instead it's related to the color of the hen, of which there are over 200 different varieties. Leg-horns lay white eggs, whereas brown eggs are produced by chicken breeds such as Rhode Island Reds, Astralorps, New Hampshires and Plymouth Rocks. These breeds once served as both egg layers and meat suppliers. Blue eggs come from the rare Chilean Araucana chicken. Green eggs are a cross between the Araucana and any brown-egg-laying hen. The artistic Chinese Cochin hen speckles her eggs with bright yellow dots.

A chicken egg might appear to be a study in simplicity, but this elegantly shaped vessel contains a complex system of components that together form one of the most nutritionally complete foods on earth. The pin-sized white speck at the top of the egg is the point where the egg begins. It contains all of the hen's chromosomes, and is what develops into a chick if it's fertilized and allowed to mature. The yolk is the next component to develop. The sunny epicenter of the egg is a nutritional power-house whose purpose is almost exclusively nutritive. It contains three-quarters of the egg's calories, along with iron, thiamin, vitamin A and fat. It might appear to be a dense solid, but the yolk is actually a bag of water that holds free-floating proteins and protein-fat-cholesterol-lecithin aggregates. It is this last compound that gives the yolk its emulsifying ability.

Once the yolk develops, it is coated with a membrane that develops into the egg white, or "albumen." The albumen is applied in four layers that alternate between thick and thin. The first thick layer is wound into a spiral by the hen's oviduct to form the "chalazae"--from the Greek word for hailstone or small lump. The chalazae suspend the yolk at the center of the egg with two strong bands that connect it to the shell. The egg then passes into another area of the oviduct where two thin membranes are applied and attached everywhere but the very top of the egg. This permits an air pocket to form that provides the chick with its first breath. The egg is then pumped with water and salt to plump the albumen to its final size. Once the expanding albumen tightens its external membranes, the uterus coats the egg in protein and calcium carbonate to form the shell. The shell has about 12,000 two-millimeter-wide pores that permit air to flow in and out of it. In a final flourish, the hen coats her egg in a thin protein cuticle that is eventually shattered as the egg matures. Hemoglobin related enzymes lend the egg shell its color, which is determined by the genetic make-up of the hen and her partner. The completed egg is laid 25 hours after it leaves the ovary.

While the yolk contributes the most to the eventual chick's nutritional requirements, the albumen provides it with physical and chemical protection, as well as water and additional protein. The albumen, ninety percent of which is water, constitutes two-thirds of the egg's weight. The other ten percent of the albumen is comprised of protein, vitamins and minerals. It is riboflavin that gives the cooked egg white its slightly green color. The albumen also contains numerous chemicals that protect the developing chick from bacteria, infection and disease. The albumen's protein, "ovotransferrin," binds to the iron molecules of the yolk and transports iron to the chick. When heated, it is the first egg-white protein to coagulate, which determines the temperature at which the egg sets. The egg while becomes more stable when bound to the yolk's iron cells, and therefore it coagulates at a higher temperature when cooked with the yolk. Ovotransferrin's hue changes when it comes into contact with metal, which is the reason why egg whites whipped in a copper bowl turn slightly golden.

Nutrition and Storage

The egg is a nearly perfect food that provides human beings with virtually all their nutritional requirements. It contains all of the daily requirements of amino acids, as well as polyunsaturated fats and numerous vitamins and minerals. In addition, the egg is rich in anti-oxidants. It also contains more cholesterol than any other familiar food. Recent studies have illustrated, however, that cholesterol is not necessarily unhealthy for a human being until combined with saturated fats. Since the yolk is comprised mainly of unsaturated fats, its reputation as a cholesterol monster might not necessarily be justified.

The albumen and the yolk exist to provide the chick with its nutritional requirements and to ward off disease. As long as an egg is kept chilled, it will continue to serve its purpose and, therefore, an egg does not go "bad" as quickly as other raw foods. However, the egg does become less acidic as it ages, causing the egg white to become runny. A fresh egg is rich in carbon dioxide that gives the albumen a cloudy appearance. As the egg ages, the CO2 levels are depleted. Therefore, a clear albumen indicates an older egg. The egg's moisture level is also exhausted through its porous shell as it ages. Eggs are sometimes coated with oil to prevent this from happening, but this does not inhibit the process entirely. If an egg floats in water, it is because it has shrunk to the point that its air pocket makes it buoyant, and it should be discarded. A fresh egg will fall to the bottom of a bowl of water.

Keeping an egg cool substantially slows down its aging process: Egg quality deteriorates in one day at room temperature as much as it would in four days when refrigerated. Salmonella bacteria, which are present in one egg per 10,000, also grow faster at room temperature. It's always best to keep eggs chilled until they are ready for use. Eggs can be frozen in air-tight containers once they're removed from their shells. To prevent freezer burn, lay plastic wrap directly atop the eggs. Egg whites freeze well on their own, but yolks should be combined with salt, sugar and an acid, such as lemon juice, before freezing to prevent a sticky consistency once thawed.

How an egg cooks

A cold protein molecule is an independent, jumbled knot. When an egg is heated, the protein molecules lengthen and collide, which causes them to tangle up with each other. It is this process that turns a liquid egg into a solid. The liquid turns white because its molecules join together so densely that they deflect light. Overcooking binds the protein so lightly that it results in a rubbery consistency. Eggs should therefore be cooked slowly, with their temperature never exceeding 212 degrees. Egg whites start thickening at 145 degrees, and become a soft solid at 150 degrees. Yolks thicken at 150 degrees, and set at 158 degrees. A whole egg hardens at 165 degrees.

Diluting eggs with a liquid such as milk or cream increases an egg's cooking time, whereas the addition of acids or salt lowers it. Salt and acid do not stiffen eggs as some cooks believe. Instead, they lower the egg's cooking temperature, which results in a softer egg.

The albumen's high sulfuric levels reacting with the yolk's high concentration of iron is what causes the green ring of a hard-boiled egg yolk. This occurs because the alkaline environment of the egg white strips the albumen of its sulfuric atoms--but not the iron it absorbs from the yolk. Using fresh eggs, cooking them for as little time as possible, and cooling them as quickly as possible should prevent the green ring.

When egg whites are whipped, foam forms because the whisk aerates the whites and forces air into them, and the force of the whisk causes the protein molecules to unbind and lengthen. A copper bowl is ideal for whipping egg whites because the metal forms incredibly tight bonds with sulfur. This discourages the whites from binding with other proteins too tightly, and therefore eliminates the worry of producing stiff egg whites. Acid molecules also bind with sulfur and will also prevent stiff egg whites. Three components that slow, or at times inhibit eggs from foaming, are oil, detergent and egg yolk. Each one interferes with the protein bonds that need to develop. Salt increases whipping time and lowers the foam's stability. Sugar reacts in the same way if added at the beginning of the whipping process, but serves to support the egg white's stability if added after an egg is whipped.

With its delicate shell protecting a golden yolk suspended in its slightly opaque universe, the egg appears to be as simple as the singular line that draws its graceful curve. Yet cooks have known for centuries that nature's miraculous gift to the culinary world delivers an abundance of riches to the table. Celebrated by ancient cultures as the very essence of creation itself, the egg provides sustenance in myriad forms. The egg plays such a fundamental role in our kitchens that it is very likely that the culinary world would come to a halt if the egg were to disappear. To imagine a world without the egg, or the dedicated hen that delivers her gift to us each day is to strip our cookbooks of their most cherished recipes. The egg adapts to whatever situation we present to it, and will never cease to inspire new creations. Perhaps the ancients were right in their genesis stories: In the egg's gently sloping shell is contained a universe of versatility and nutritional virtues ... and with the egg, a world of flavor is created.