Book Review: Eggs, A Global History, by Diane Toops

Eggs, A Global History, by Diane Toops. Published by Reaktion Books

Eggs, A Global History, by Diane Toops
160 pages, Hardback, 56 illustrations, 47 in color
Published March 24, 2014
Reaktion Books Ltd

In “Eggs,” Diane Toops offers a wonder-filled exploration of egg history and lore, cracking the egg’s significance in culinary history, diet, health, culture, and food processing. The book is one of the most recently published volumes in The Edible Series of food histories (Reaktion Books, $14.23 each). Each book of the series details the history and culture of one type of food or beverage. Currently numbering more than 40 volumes, the foods range from beer to nuts, vegetables, beverages, grains, and formative prepared foods such as bread, cheese, curry, hot dogs, pancakes, cocktails, pie and cake.

In a concise volume, Toops covers the many varieties of eggs, chicken, goose, duck, fish, ostrich or even alligator, that have been eaten throughout history. Because of their worldwide ubiquity and historical importance, the chicken egg is the main focus of the book. Topps describes history, cuisine, health aspects, cultural importance, and commercial processing of the egg.

With unhurried, clear and straight-forward writing, Toops covers a lot of egg lore and egg usage. Some of my favorite takeaways from the book:

• Ancient Egyptians ate all birds eggs, considering them wholesome, when boiled, fried, poached or used to bind ingredients in sauces.
• The Egyptians devised a method to incubate eggs in dung heaps to increase supplies for their workers.
• The Chinese domesticated and organized ducks in yards some 4,000 years ago, and were building egg incubators by 246 BC.
• An Andalusian cookbook, written in the thirteenth century, records the first recipe for a food fried in egg batter, first use of tempura.
• China is the world’s largest egg producer and more than 65% of global egg production takes place in Asia.
• During recent years there has been significant growth in the use of egg products. These are eggs which have been taken out of their shell and include liquid and frozen yolk, albumen, egg blends, and ready-made omelettes.
• Eggs should be at room temperature if they are to combined with a fat and a sugar. Cold eggs may harden the fat in a recipe, causing the batter to curdle and affecting the texture of the finished dish.
• White eggs are most in demand among American buyers, but they have the same nutritional value as brown eggs.
• The color of the eggshell is directly influenced by the breed of the hen. As a general rule, breeds with white feathers lay white eggs and those with red feathers lay brown eggs.
• Before refrigeration, to keep eggs fresher longer, farmers sealed the pores of the shell to prevent loss of moisture. The most efficient coating being mineral oil, still used today.
• Many cultures consider the egg a symbol of rebirth and celebrate spring with festivals, in which eggs play a prominent role.
• Egg rolling on the lawn of the White House is an American tradition started by First Lady Dolley Madison.

The many images provided in “Eggs” are a special bonus given the importance of eggs as symbols in art. The provocative, Concert in the Egg is granted a two-page spread. The painting is considered a copy of a lost work by Hieronymus Bosch. The images highlight the many ways eggs are consumed from Chinese Tea Eggs, and the Tex-Mex breakfast dish, migas, to balut, the national street food of the Philippines. The balut is fertilized duck egg and depending on the age of the embryo can include a beak, bones and feathers. For an adventure in balut consumption, see: We Ate Balut — The Absolute Strangest Food You Can Find In New York City

The book has an extensive collection of recipes in an appendix from the earliest recorded Roman egg dishes up to current recipes. For example, Libum was a sacrificial cake sometimes offered to household spirits during Rome’s early history. For a version of the Libum recipe see this Nova site on Ancient Roman Recipes. Some of the other recipes include definitive egg and egg-based dishes such as custard, souffle, deviled eggs, hoppelpoppel, and mayonnaise.

“Eggs” is one of best in the wonderful Edible Series of food histories. It captures all the lore and history of the other volumes but also gives an excellent synopsis of the important industrial processing side of the egg.

Toops even tackles the age-old, which came first question and concludes, to quote, “We will probably never know for certain which came first, but an egg is an egg is an egg, and that is enough for us to know.”

Bravo Diane!

A personal note: I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Diane Toops was a treasured colleague of mine when I wrote for food industry publications in Chicago. Often thrown together for press conferences, field assignments, and trade shows, I found Diane to be a wondrous spirit. Always bringing an informed curiosity to every situation and the people around her, Diane could be trusted to find the positive always. Kitty Kevin, a close friend of Diane, has written, “A Legacy of Listening: A final scoop on our late Diane Toops.”