The Gourmand’s Egg. A Collection of Stories & Recipes

As Dalí’s muse, Hitchcock’s nightmare, and humble ingredient, the eternal egg weaves a fascinating tale back to antiquity. The first volume in TASCHEN’s series with The Gourmand, sumptuously illustrated with exclusive photography and historic artworks, celebrates the link between food and art through original recipes and stories.

A cultural and culinary history of our favorite household ingredient

Poached, scrambled, boiled, whipped into a cocktail, transformed into a painting medium, tossed at an enemy’s house. As the most striking of paradoxes, the egg exists in happy suspension between humble household ingredient and ever-powerful source of life.

One of the most enduring symbols throughout antiquity, eggs were used by the Romans to dispel evil spirits, modeled as priceless artifacts for the Russian nobility, and were woven into Egyptian mythology. In the debut volume of TASCHEN’s series with cult-favorite The Gourmand journal, we celebrate the link between food and culture in a visual and literary exploration of the powerhouse kitchen staple. A collection of original essays and archetype recipes, from the perfect poach to artful desserts, celebrates the diversity of culinary traditions around the world.

The Gourmand’s Egg. A Collection of Stories and Recipes is illustrated with exclusive commissions by acclaimed still life photographers—equal parts sumptuous, absurd, lurid, mouthwatering, and undeniably The Gourmand. Rounding out the volume are works from art history’s titans, including Salvador Dalí, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Frida Kahlo, David Hockney, and Man Rayalongside texts from chef, food writer, and critic Ruth Reichl and writer and editor Jennifer Higgie, and more. “In cooking — as in almost every-thing else,” Reichl said. “It all starts with an egg.”

The editor and art director

The Gourmand is David Lane and Marina Tweed, creators of the eponymous food and culture journal founded in London in 2011. Through publications, films and experiences they explore the fields of art, design, literature, film, fashion, and music through the universal subject of food. Their work has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Die Zeit, and Le Monde, and exhibited at the Design Museum, London. 

Texts by

Jennifer Higgie is an Australian writer who lives in London. She is the author and illustrator of the children’s book There’s Not One, the editor of The Artist’s Joke, and author of the novel Bedlam. Her book on women’s self-portraits, The Mirror & The Palette, was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. She also writes screenplays.

The Gourmand’s Egg. A Collection of Stories and RecipesHardcover, 20 x 27.9 cm, 1.28 kg, 288 pages

ISBN 978-3-8365-8589-7