On Eggs

Do you ever stop and wonder about eggs? Lately I have been thinking about them for some reason. I guess it started with a discussion I had with my wife about her father’s cooking, such as it was. When her mother was in the hospital having children (my wife is the oldest of six) what she remembered most is that her father, if he was going to cook at all, made a lot of hot dogs for dinner and scrambled eggs for breakfast. Otherwise it was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or cereal. I don’t know if the way you like your eggs cooked says anything about you, but I generally have mine sunny side up with soft yolks. (Her mother liked them that way too.) She likes them scrambled or fried “over hard.” When we have boiled eggs, she has hard boiled and I have soft boiled. Sometimes I get creative and make myself an omelet.

Early on in our marriage, she would offer to fix breakfast for me and ask me what kind of eggs I wanted. I would always answer “Eggs Benedict!” Needless to say, this response was always met with skepticism and derision. These days, the only time I get Eggs Benedict is when we are on a trip and having breakfast at a restaurant. Over time it has become sort of an inside culinary joke with us. Of course, travel has its own tribulations when it comes to eggs and breakfast at hotels and motels. Many places offer a “continental” breakfast (translation – no eggs), others offer hot breakfasts that provide all the eggs you want – as long as they’re scrambled. A few classy places will do eggs to order or custom omelets.

Since eggs are alternately regarded as either healthy and “excellent sources of protein” or unhealthy and “evil sources of cholesterol” many places offer “yellow eggs” (with yolk) or “white eggs” (no yolk). It all comes down to who you believe, I guess, but I prefer “real” eggs and to just enjoy them (in moderation of course). And I don’t care whether they are white or brown, either. Which brings to mind a scientific study I read about somewhere that concluded that no matter how eggs are prepared, they taste the same. Of course, in setting up the tests, they prepared eggs in different ways – then they put them into blenders and pureed them to a yellow paste, so apparently color, texture and consistency are not considered part of “taste” from a scientific point of view.

As for my opinion on that age old chicken and egg controversy – no contest, the egg came first.