On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 146

Amongindustrializedcountries,onlyFrance
andAustraliahaveremainedindependentof
thehandfulofmultinationalcorporationsthat
providelayingstocktotheeggindustry.
Mass Production The 20th century saw the
general farm lose its poultry shed to the
poultryfarmorranch,whichhasinturnbeen
splitupintoseparatehatcheriesandmeatand
eggfactories.Economiesofscaledictatethat
productionunitsbeaslargeaspossible—one
caretakercanmanageaflockof100,000,and
many ranches now have a million or more
laying hens. Today’s typical layer is born in
anincubator,eatsadietthatoriginateslargely
in the laboratory, lives and lays on wire and
under lights for about a year, and produces
between250and290eggs.AsPageSmithand
Charles Daniel put it in theirChicken Book,
thechickenisnolonger“alivelycreaturebut
merely an element in an industrial process
whoseproduct[is]theegg.”


AMedievalOmeletandEnglishCream
Arboulastre(AnOmelet)
[Firstpreparemixedherbs,includingrue,
tansy,mint,sage,marjoram,fennel,
parsley,violetleaves,spinach,lettuce,
clary,ginger.]Thenhaveseveneggswell
beatentogether,yolksandwhites,andmix
withtheherbs.Thendivideintwoand

maketwoallumelles,whicharefriedinthe
followingmanner.Firstyouheatyour
fryingpanwellwithoil,butter,or
whateverfatyoulike.Whenitiswell
heated,especiallytowardthehandle,mix
andcastyoureggsuponthepan,andturn
frequentlywithapaddleoverandunder;
thenthrowsomegoodgratedcheeseon
top.Knowthatitisdonethusbecauseif
youmixthecheesewiththeeggsand
herbs,whenyoufrytheallumelle,the
cheesethatisunderneathstickstothe
pan….Andwhenyourherbsarefriedin
thepan,shapeyourarboulastreintoa