A collection of stories and recipes

Poached, boiled, scrambled, transformed into a medium for painting, added to a cocktail or fired as a missile at an enemy's house: In its capacity as the greatest possible paradox, the egg remains in a happy limbo between humble household ingredient and eternal source of life. Even in ancient times, the egg was a well-known symbol. In ancient Rome, it was used to drive away evil spirits, it found its way into Egyptian mythology, and later the Russian aristocracy became enthusiastic about precious egg-shaped artifacts. This first volume in a series co-published by TASCHEN and the iconic magazine The Gourmand takes a visual and literary look at the egg. This staple food is thus honored as an interface between food and art. The book contains a collection of original essays and archetypal recipes - from the perfect poached egg to artful desserts - celebrating the diversity of culinary traditions from around the world. The Gourmand. Eggs. Stories and Recipes is illustrated with exclusive commissions from renowned still-life photographers. These equally sumptuous, absurd, quirky and appetizing photographs are an unmistakable trademark of The Gourmand. The volume is rounded off with works by titans of art history such as Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Frida Kahlo, David Hockney and Man Ray, as well as fascinating texts by chef, food writer and food critic Ruth Reichl and writer and editor Jennifer Higgie. According to Reichl, "in cooking - as in almost everything else - everything starts with an egg".

(Publisher's text - reproduced with kind permission)