square or round form, and eat it neither too hot nor too cold — Le Ménagier de Paris, ca 1390 Poche to Potage (Poached Eggs in Crème Anglaise) Take eggs and break them into boiling water, and let them seethe, and when they are done take them out, and take milk and yolks of eggs, and beat them well together, and put them in a pot; and add sugar or honey, and color it with saffron, and let it seethe; and at the first boil take it off, and cast therein powder of ginger, and dress the cooked eggs in dishes, and pour the pottage above, and serve it forth — from a manuscript published in Antiquitates Culinariae, 1791 (ca 1400) Benefits and Costs The industrialization of the chicken has brought benefits, and these shouldn’t be underestimated A pound of broiler can now be produced from less than two pounds of feed, a pound of eggs from less than three, so both chickens and eggs are bargains among animal foods Egg quality has also improved City and country dwellers alike enjoy fresher, more uniform eggs than formerly, when small-farm hens ran free and laid in odd places, and when spring eggs were stored until winter in limewater or waterglass (see p 115) Refrigeration alone has made a tremendous difference Year-round laying (made possible by controlled lighting and temperature), prompt gathering and cooling, and daily shipping by rapid, refrigerated transport mean that good eggs deteriorate much less between hen and cook than they did in the more relaxed, more humane past There are drawbacks to the industrial egg While average quality has improved, people who pay close attention to eggs say that flavor has suffered: that the chicken’s natural, varied diet of grains, leaves, and bugs provides a richness that the commercial soy and fish meals don’t (This difference has proven hard ... (made possible by controlled lighting and temperature), prompt gathering and cooling, and daily shipping by rapid, refrigerated transport mean that good eggs deteriorate much less between hen and cook than they did in the more relaxed, more humane past... laid in odd places, and when spring eggs were stored until winter in limewater or waterglass (see p 115) Refrigeration alone has made a tremendous difference Year-round laying (made possible by controlled lighting and. ..than three, so both chickens and eggs are bargains among animal foods Egg quality has also improved City and country dwellers alike enjoy fresher, more uniform eggs than formerly, when small-farm hens ran free and laid in odd places, and when spring eggs were