holding uncracked, wholesome eggs, the other had eggs with cracked shells which cost more

because in Sri Lanka there was more demand for them. I always opted for the cheaper eggs with

uncracked shells.

It was serendipitous that our Asian ancestors chose chickens for domestication, the

descendants of a wild Indian jungle fowl (Gallus domesticus). Birds lay eggs in two different

patterns. In one pattern the bird lays a number of eggs in quick succession, then proceeds to

incubate them at once. The other pattern is slower, usually one a day, until a certain number

accumulates in the nest. The chicken, fortunately, is in this slow-laying group. She doesn’t start

sitting on the nest to warm the eggs and initiate the development of the embryos until the nest is

full. It didn’t take humans long to figure out that if they remove the new eggs every day or two,

the hen will continue to lay more, trying to fill up the nest. No one knows for sure how a chicken

“counts her eggs before they are hatched,” but she keeps laying an egg a day in her single-

minded effort to fill up the nest.

Early Americans introduced chicken flocks into the New World in 1607 in Jamestown,

Virginia, the first permanent English community on the continent. Farmers’ wives soon took

over the raising of chickens and the gathering and selling of eggs. “Egg money” belonged to the

wife, and she could spend it any way she chose.

The modern eggs

Virtually all western cuisines use eggs as essential ingredients, particularly in baked

sweets. It was the French who discovered eggs’ versatility in cooking and baking, and French

chefs perfected their use as culinary artists with unbelievable applications. The French cuisine

without eggs (and butter) would collapse instantly. Eastern cuisines, on the other hand, use eggs

very little, as they don’t include baking in their culinary repertoire. They don’t care for egg-

based sauces or mayonnaise-type emulsions. If they do use eggs, it is in simple forms as in egg

curry, egg-drop soup, stir-fries and custards.

Chicken eggs are by far the most-used eggs for cooking and baking. Their chemical

composition makes them ideal for virtually all cooking purposes. Duck eggs are much less

versatile. While better for baking cakes or cookies with their rich, large yolks, their whites don’t

whip up well.

Young hens, called pullets, begin laying eggs at the early age of 20 to 22 weeks and

continue laying until the ripe old age of 75 weeks (less than a year and a half). On the average,

they lay 270 eggs in their one-year egg-laying lifetime. As hens age, the eggs they produce keep

shrinking both in size and frequency, signaling the rancher it is time to move them into their next

job, being turned into pet food.

Unluckily for modern hens, producing eggs no longer requires the presence of a rooster,

which would at least add a little excitement to their lives. The average hen today is not even

likely to know that male birds exist, and has no chance of producing a fertilized embryo.

Contrary to common belief, the little blood spots you occasionally see inside eggs are not the

sign of a fertilized egg. These are caused a by ruptured blood vessel during formation of the egg.

(These eggs are perfectly good to eat even if you don’t remove the blood spot.)

TASTINGS The egg factory

It only takes 24 to 26 hours for the hen to develop a complete egg, ready to lay.

As soon as she lays one, her system is ready within half an hour to begin to

Serious Kitchen Play