Cooked Eggs Doubtless bird eggs have been roasted ever since humans mastered fire; in As You Like It Shakespeare has Touchstone call Corin “damned, like an ill-roasted egg, all on one side.” Salting and pickling eggs are ancient treatments that preserved the spring’s bounty for use throughout the year. We know from the recipes of Apicius that the Romans ate ova frixa, elixa, et hapala—fried, boiled, and “soft” eggs—and the patina, which could be a savory quiche or a sweet custard. By medieval times, the French were sophisticated omelet makers and the English were