Sitting at the Ideal Diner in the spring can be anything but. In this Northeast Minneapolis joint there is the counter and there is the cooking line, and that’s it. Perched on a prize stool, you are simultaneously warmed by the remarkable heat emanating from the grill and chilled by the rush of cold air from the swinging door behind you. But it is there, trapped in the nexus of fire and frost, that you might meet a wizened sage, your oracle, also known as the short-order cook. You may enter as a skeptic, sizing up the grease-stained apron and witnessing the alarming use of lard in the hash browns while perusing the spotted menu. But all you need do is clear your mind, center yourself and order two poached eggs on toast. His reply, “Adam and Eve on a raft, coming up,” signals that you are in the presence of greatness.
Who else but a philosopher, a truth-seeker, would have such insight into the symbolism of eggs? He could have called them “two googly eyes on a raft” or “double sun in the clouds.” But he didn’t, he gave them monikers synonymous with creation. As the moist spring air whips the door open one more time, you may wonder if he has the answer to the ultimate question, the question of life itself: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
On the food timeline, eggs are as old as salt and water. Eggs, and the birds that laid them, were around before there were humans to write about them. The first domestication of fowl is believed to have taken place somewhere in India around 3200 BC. The Egyptians and Chinese both record egg production around 1400 BC.
Although we agree when we speak of eggs we are speaking of chicken eggs, it is important to know that oology, the study of eggs, covers all kinds. So in the broadest oological sense, duck eggs are quite popular among enthusiastic egg-eaters, as are goose and quail eggs. Turkey eggs are rarely available to the consumer, as most are hatched, and ostrich eggs are sold primarily for use in very large novelty omelets. As for rattlesnake eggs, let’s just move on.
It seems that as long as humans have been consuming eggs, they have been consumed by their spiritual nature, their symbolism and connection to the divine. The Phoenician creation myth tells of a very large egg splitting open, its two halves becoming heaven and earth. The idea of the egg as a self-renewing model of the cosmos is central to many ancient religions. Hindu writings tell of deities Brahma and Prajapati each forming an egg and then emerging from it. Egyptian hieroglyphics often depict the god Osiris being reborn from a broken eggshell. Probably the best-known legend is that of the Phoenix, which, in the tale from Greek historian Herodotus, died in a rage of flame and was reborn from an egg it had laid.
Rebirth was a crucial belief among early civilizations, which celebrated it every year when the earth went through her own springtime regeneration. The sun’s return after a dark winter was a miracle, and the egg became emblematic proof of the renewal of life. Celtic tribes observed the vernal equinox with a feast including red-dyed eggs, whose shells were vigilantly crushed to ward off cold weather. With the spread of Christianity and the assimilation of local traditions, the egg came to symbolize Christ’s resurrection from the tomb, also celebrated in the spring. “Easter” is believed to originate from Oestar, an ancient goddess of spring and renewal.
Eggs were among the first forbidden foods of Lent, making them a special treat at the subsequent Easter feast. In many Eastern European countries, people carried baskets of food, which usually included eggs, to church to be blessed before their preparation. It was considered a special gesture to give someone an egg, especially a decorated one. By the sixteenth century, the court of France was commissioning ornately decorated eggs from famed artists—an art form that reached its apex in the late nineteenth century, when the czar of Russia had his court jeweler, Carl Fabergé, create incomparable eggs encrusted with gold, crystals, and gems. As for the bunny? Blame those crazy pagans, who saw the rabbit as a symbol of fertility and new life, and kooky Germans, who believed that a magical rabbit would bring them a nest of eggs if they were good during Lent.
Even without the symbolism, the egg is the perfect food. Nature designed it as a total life support system, so it contains nearly every nutrient thought to be vital to humans. The proteins in egg whites are of such high quality that they are held as a benchmark for all other food proteins. The yolk provides goodies like vitamins A, D, E, and B12, as well as folic acid, iron, and zinc. True, the yolk also contains fat and cholesterol, but as long as you don’t eat fifty eggs you should be fine. Nobody can eat fifty eggs.
How your egg looks depends on who dropped it. Chickens with white feathers lay white eggs, naturally enough, while those from red-feathered breeds are brown. The yolk’s color may change with the diet of the hen—for instance, marigold petals are added to feed for a brighter yellow. Many of us have had the luck to crack a double-yolk egg, but few have cracked an egg with no yolk, which is rare but not impossible.
Now that various diets are leading people away from carbohydrates and toward proteins, the egg is having a rebirth of its own. Some places, such as local favorite The Egg & I, will always bring you eggy delight. I say go soft-boiled and do some toast dipping. For a truly spiritual experience, try the soft scrambled eggs over cured salmon at Solera. How they get them so silky and delicate is a true mystery of life.
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