A Historical and Anthropological Analysis of Cultural Food Free Essay Example, 2000 words

The ancient Romans also consumed boiled eggs. The Chinese, on the other hand, had their own method of consuming and preserving eggs by fermenting them. The Chinese were particularly fond of the pigeon eggs (Kiple and Ornelas 2000, p. This could help the egg to keep from rotting even after weeks. The discovery of egg as a nutritious and healthy food source developed its own innovations throughout time as it started first from being eaten raw to being boiled and then being eaten along with bread and cakes. The early Egyptians and Romans are said to have used egg in making bread and cakes due to their coagulating qualities that enable it to act as an excellent thickening agent (Tannahill 1988, p. Today, one may consume eggs as part of their daily meal but its history lies millions of years back. Eggs can be traced back since the start of humanity millions of years back, particularly when humans started settling as civilizations and societies. The domestication of foul birds and farming of chickens allowed humans to realize several uses of eggs as part of their diet, beyond its usual consumption as an egg itself. We will write a custom essay sample on A Historical and Anthropological Analysis of Cultural Food or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Its use in the preparation of other foods was also realized quite early, but it is probable that this was done so through trial and error. The Chinese cuisine has extensively used eggs in their culinary dishes. The Chinese society is probably one of the earliest among ancient civilizations that started to farm fowl birds. Hence, the use of egg in food was recognized quite early. Historians of food have suggested that China may be the first place which started the domestication of chickens and other birds, which explains the access to eggs and its use in the preparation of food. Among the various eggs, pigeon eggs were most frequently used for consumption in China. Even today, pigeon eggs are taken as a delicacy served as a poached egg with different kinds of soup, while they may also be eaten boiled. Perhaps the most famous method of Chinese preservation involves eggs, known as thousand-year eggs. These eggs are fermented so that they do not go off. Eggs that have been preserved using such a method are often eaten as it is or as the first course.