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All About Eggs
A handbook, a cookbook, an eggbook: this quasi-encyclopedic ovarian overview is the only tome you need to own about the indispensable egg.
Eggs: star of the most important meal of the day, and, to hear billions of cooks and chefs tell it, quite possibly the world's most important food. Does that make Lucky Peach's All About Eggs the world's most important book? Probably yes. In essays, anecdotes, how-tos, and foolproof recipes, this egg-centric volume celebrates everything an egg can be and do. Whether illuminating the progress of an egg through a chicken, or teaching you how to poach the perfect egg, All About Eggs bursts with facts to deploy at your next cocktail party—then serves up a killer deviled egg recipe to serve while you’re doing it. All About Eggs is for anyone who has ever delighted in the pleasures of an omelet, marveled at the snowflake patterns on a century egg, or longed to make a sky-high soufflé.
From the Hardcover edition.
Eggs: star of the most important meal of the day, and, to hear billions of cooks and chefs tell it, quite possibly the world's most important food. Does that make Lucky Peach's All About Eggs the world's most important book? Probably yes. In essays, anecdotes, how-tos, and foolproof recipes, this egg-centric volume celebrates everything an egg can be and do. Whether illuminating the progress of an egg through a chicken, or teaching you how to poach the perfect egg, All About Eggs bursts with facts to deploy at your next cocktail party—then serves up a killer deviled egg recipe to serve while you’re doing it. All About Eggs is for anyone who has ever delighted in the pleasures of an omelet, marveled at the snowflake patterns on a century egg, or longed to make a sky-high soufflé.
From the Hardcover edition.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 4, 2017
54 people are currently reading
726 people want to read
About the author
Rachel Khong
12 books1,447 followersRACHEL KHONG is the author of the novels Real Americans, a New York Times bestseller, and Goodbye, Vitamin, winner of the California Book Award for First Fiction. From 2011 to 2016, she was an editor of Lucky Peach, a quarterly magazine of food and culture. In 2018, Rachel founded The Ruby, a work and event space for writers and artists in San Francisco’s Mission District. Her story collection, My Dear You, will be published by Knopf in April 2026. Since 2021, she has mentored emerging writers with the Periplus Mentorship Collective. With friends, she teaches as The Dream Side (www.thedreamside.com).
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 11, 2017
Do you ever find yourself at a party and no one is calling on you to offer your opinion on Trump's decisions vis-a-vis Syria? Or worse, someone IS calling on you and you are lost for words?
Change the topic and take control after reading this informative book. Be the one friends call when they get in a fight with each other whether poached or boiled was the preferred method of consumption in the 18th century. Dazzle party guests with your intricate knowledge of a hen's laying hours. As the likely sole "egghead" in the group, the floor will be yours and your audience will leave both informed and inspired.
Change the topic and take control after reading this informative book. Be the one friends call when they get in a fight with each other whether poached or boiled was the preferred method of consumption in the 18th century. Dazzle party guests with your intricate knowledge of a hen's laying hours. As the likely sole "egghead" in the group, the floor will be yours and your audience will leave both informed and inspired.
October 26, 2023
I'm kind of an egg fiend, especially after doing Whole 30 seven years ago and loosely following it ever since. I saw a meme once with a picture of an egg that said something like, "I did the Whole 30, and now my only friend left is this egg." Mind you, my friends didn't abandon me, but they may have thought I was a little weird. The thing is, I'm lazy about cooking, and I dislike it. Eggs are easy and good, and they're "compliant" with Whole 30, so I eat a lot of them. So when I saw this book in my library's withdrawn pile, I snagged it and read it cover to cover, skimming the recipes and reading the essays and realizing eggs aren't that easy if you're doing them like the professionals do. Fortunately for me, I don't care about that and plan to continue half-assing it and cooking perfectly edible breakfasts (the only meal I cook) that make me happy.
Anyway, I'm starting this review in much the same way that cooking blogs do, resulting in people complaining that they don't need the cook's life story--they just want the stupid recipe. That's funny to me, because this book is full of those kinds of stories, as well as many informative short essays about eggs, and that's what I liked most about it. It's all well-written and interesting, and I learned a lot, like different ways to tell if your egg is fresh, what terminology on egg cartons about humane treatment really means, and the history of different dishes and cuisines.
There are over 57 contributors, and one of my favorites was Judie Baker from Queens, who talked about her matzo brei recipe and said, "Frankly, nobody makes it as good as I do."
A lot of the cooking described in this book is fancier and more time-consuming than I will ever do. I was surprised at how much physical movement was incorporated into the recipes, with descriptions of how you're supposed to move the pan with one hand while stirring, whisking, etc. with the other. I had to laugh at the recipes described as "easy," like Îles Flottantes--only 10 steps, 13 if you make the carmelized sugar strands for the final touch, ha! When my husband (the cook in the family) saw me reading this, he asked if I was planning to try any of the recipes, to which I replied that it was more research for what I wanted him to cook for me.
At first, I was frustrated none of the recipes had accompanying photos, and just some silly cartoony drawings around photos of different types of eggs. Then I realized all the recipe photos were in the middle of the book.
Fun, informative read with lots of good-looking recipes for people who love eggs.
Anyway, I'm starting this review in much the same way that cooking blogs do, resulting in people complaining that they don't need the cook's life story--they just want the stupid recipe. That's funny to me, because this book is full of those kinds of stories, as well as many informative short essays about eggs, and that's what I liked most about it. It's all well-written and interesting, and I learned a lot, like different ways to tell if your egg is fresh, what terminology on egg cartons about humane treatment really means, and the history of different dishes and cuisines.
There are over 57 contributors, and one of my favorites was Judie Baker from Queens, who talked about her matzo brei recipe and said, "Frankly, nobody makes it as good as I do."
A lot of the cooking described in this book is fancier and more time-consuming than I will ever do. I was surprised at how much physical movement was incorporated into the recipes, with descriptions of how you're supposed to move the pan with one hand while stirring, whisking, etc. with the other. I had to laugh at the recipes described as "easy," like Îles Flottantes--only 10 steps, 13 if you make the carmelized sugar strands for the final touch, ha! When my husband (the cook in the family) saw me reading this, he asked if I was planning to try any of the recipes, to which I replied that it was more research for what I wanted him to cook for me.
At first, I was frustrated none of the recipes had accompanying photos, and just some silly cartoony drawings around photos of different types of eggs. Then I realized all the recipe photos were in the middle of the book.
Fun, informative read with lots of good-looking recipes for people who love eggs.
July 18, 2020
"Lucky Peach uses food as a filter to tell stories about people, places, traditions, flavors, shared experiences, and cultural identities."
This is a cookbook, and it's simultaneously so much more than a cookbook. Lucky Peach was a food magazine that insisted that we cannot enjoy food without a greater understanding of culture. Lucky Peach was a friendly, fun, funny, comprehensive, diverse magazine experience that seemed to be tackling cultural appropriation of food in the most fun way possible. All About Eggs is the egg-focused extension of this.
We've got the absolute basics of eggs; their history, multiple methods for seeing when they've spoiled, and a sometimes seemingly infinite guide for how to cook them. For the cultural piece, we see how egg recipes have traveled and changed according to the culture they're being created and cooked in. Everything has context, and All About Eggs never lets you forget that.
The most refreshing part of this book is that it doesn't feel overly centered in a Western or American point of view; although I'm writing this as a white American woman, so take that statement with some skepticism. This book feels firmly rooted in the world of eggs-- not the American story of eggs.
About a third of my way through this book, I decided to buy a copy. A healthy amount of the recipes seem to be for more advanced culinary minds, but there are easier recipes too. There are also historical recipes that don't seem like they would taste as good, but would further enrich your understanding of egg history. In my everyday cooking, I've already referenced back to this book multiple times. As an amateur chef who also cares about cultural practices and the sharing of those cultural practices, I'd say this book is indispensable.
This is a cookbook, and it's simultaneously so much more than a cookbook. Lucky Peach was a food magazine that insisted that we cannot enjoy food without a greater understanding of culture. Lucky Peach was a friendly, fun, funny, comprehensive, diverse magazine experience that seemed to be tackling cultural appropriation of food in the most fun way possible. All About Eggs is the egg-focused extension of this.
We've got the absolute basics of eggs; their history, multiple methods for seeing when they've spoiled, and a sometimes seemingly infinite guide for how to cook them. For the cultural piece, we see how egg recipes have traveled and changed according to the culture they're being created and cooked in. Everything has context, and All About Eggs never lets you forget that.
The most refreshing part of this book is that it doesn't feel overly centered in a Western or American point of view; although I'm writing this as a white American woman, so take that statement with some skepticism. This book feels firmly rooted in the world of eggs-- not the American story of eggs.
About a third of my way through this book, I decided to buy a copy. A healthy amount of the recipes seem to be for more advanced culinary minds, but there are easier recipes too. There are also historical recipes that don't seem like they would taste as good, but would further enrich your understanding of egg history. In my everyday cooking, I've already referenced back to this book multiple times. As an amateur chef who also cares about cultural practices and the sharing of those cultural practices, I'd say this book is indispensable.
August 2, 2017
Reviewed by Gretchen Wagner for San Diego Book Review
Eggs are a perfect food, which explains why they are beloved in every culture across every continent. Rachel Khong has curated a lovely homage to this food in “All About Eggs: Everything We Know About the World's Most Important Food”. It is a cookbook, but also so much more. Contributors include chefs, authors, bloggers, bartenders, and many mothers and grandmothers, who share their recipes, memories, experiences, and love for eggs, in so many forms.
You can read this entire review and others like it at San Diego Book Review.
Eggs are a perfect food, which explains why they are beloved in every culture across every continent. Rachel Khong has curated a lovely homage to this food in “All About Eggs: Everything We Know About the World's Most Important Food”. It is a cookbook, but also so much more. Contributors include chefs, authors, bloggers, bartenders, and many mothers and grandmothers, who share their recipes, memories, experiences, and love for eggs, in so many forms.
You can read this entire review and others like it at San Diego Book Review.
August 11, 2017
I picked up this book because I'd just read "Goodbye, Vitamin" and was excited to see Khong had another book.
I didn't expect a cookbook. On the other hand, this is so much more than a cookbook. It has pretty much everything you want to know about eggs - yeah, yeah, I know, the title says so. There are beautiful recipe illustrations in the center. There are cute little pictures and drawings of eggs throughout. There's also a description of how an egg travels through a chicken, descriptions and explanations of hen raising, history of egg dishes, it just goes on.
Yes, I will be buying a copy of this book - to try some of the recipes, and yes, I did start following the Instagram account all_about_eggs.
It was a lovely surprise.
I didn't expect a cookbook. On the other hand, this is so much more than a cookbook. It has pretty much everything you want to know about eggs - yeah, yeah, I know, the title says so. There are beautiful recipe illustrations in the center. There are cute little pictures and drawings of eggs throughout. There's also a description of how an egg travels through a chicken, descriptions and explanations of hen raising, history of egg dishes, it just goes on.
Yes, I will be buying a copy of this book - to try some of the recipes, and yes, I did start following the Instagram account all_about_eggs.
It was a lovely surprise.
February 25, 2019
Perhaps ironically, I set out to read this mainly to learn about how to substitute for eggs to cook and bake for an egg allergy. The book was somewhat helpful for this - there was an informative small section on substitutes, and more importantly, what purposes different parts of the egg serve in different recipes (emulsifier, leavener, etc). The various egg dishes described were interesting, although it made me yearn for a collection of the best writing about eggs from other sources - perhaps inspired by Ursula Le Guin's writing on the joy of a soft boiled egg.
September 27, 2017
I borrowed this book fro the library on a whim, when my SO pointed it out to me. ("Look, Lucky Peach has written a book about eggs....") Now I want to go to Hong Kong and Macau to get egg tarts. Dammit.
The book is a nice combination of articles about eggs and recipes from around the world that I really want to try. I may have to put this on my birthday present list.
The book is a nice combination of articles about eggs and recipes from around the world that I really want to try. I may have to put this on my birthday present list.
December 28, 2017
There are interesting bits in this book, but overall I do not recommend it. Try Egg by Michael Ruhlman or Eggs by Michel Roux.
June 22, 2018
A great book to read if on Keto diet, lots of new egg based ideas.
February 4, 2021
Really fun tone. I liked the eclectic way the chapters were organized and how the book is a true love letter to eggs. Love seeing all of the different collaborators' recipes. I wish I had realized earlier that all of the photos for the recipes are in the middle!
October 26, 2021
I miss Lucky Peach.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews