First, Egg Prices Went Up. Now, Other Things Are Happening
The ripple effect from the spike in a single ingredient
Hello, and welcome to the CulinaryWoman Newsletter! Believe it or not, this is the last week of February. March is at the end of the week and while it won’t be spring for a while up north, it’s getting closer.
Cracking Open The Egg Crisis
Chocolate Easter eggs are already appearing on store shelves and for a change, they might be even cheaper than the real thing.
Earlier this winter, I wrote about the spike in egg prices for Food & Wine. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average carton of a dozen large Grade-A eggs now costs $4.95. In the past five years, the price of eggs is up 170 percent, and they have risen 19 percent in the past month alone.
There are a series of factors driving up the price of eggs. I’m sure you’ve heard about avian flu, which has caused the culling of more than 92 million birds, and 20 million egg-laying hens, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Avian flu has affected commercial, backyard and wild birds, in an outbreak that began in 2022.
Another reason why egg prices have soared including the transition by 10 states to cage-free eggs. More states plan to follow them. These are eggs laid by hens who have space to roam around, versus those confined in cages. Cage-free eggs cost more to produce but the practice is considered far kinder to the birds.
Consumers noticed the rising price of eggs over the past few months — it was even an issue during the fall presidential campaign. But now, those increases are having a ripple effect.
Earlier this month, I saw a notice in my local Trader Joe store. The chain is limiting purchases to one dozen per day per customer. It turns out that Trader Joe is part of a growing trend. At least 10 national and regional chains, from Aldi and Costco to Wegman’s and Whole Foods, are limiting egg purchases.
Sometimes, when you visit, the refrigerator cases are completely bare, as I’ve noticed at Trader Joe and Aldi.
Prices at stores that supply grocery store chains have soared, too. In New Orleans, Levee Baking Company reported that eggs were $145 a case at the local branch of Restaurant Depot. They normlaly buy from local supplers, who are charging $90 a case, but sometimes need to supplement with Depot eggs. Over the years, Levee says egg prices have ranged from $25 a case to $75, but never climbed above that until recently.
Translating to menus
Well, if your local bakery or restaurant is paying more, you can expect to pay more, as well.
Two weeks ago, Waffle House added a surcharge of 50 cents an egg. Other restaurants are following suit, or bumping up the price of egg dishes like scrambles and omelets.
Some are even responding by taking egg-focused dishes off the menu. Here in Ann Arbor, Side Biscuit, which specializes in creatively flavored wings, removed the Kaeser Salad, a riff on a Caesar Salad, from the menu, because eggs had become too expensive. It replaced it with a spicy miso cucumber salad, which you can see above.
Out in Post Falls, Washington, the Bullet Bar & Grill took Eggs Benedict off its menu. "Our decision, instead of raising prices, was to kind of remove and limit some of the options," Brandon Chavez, a co-owner of the restaurant, told KHO-TV.
Romina Rasmussen, owner and pastry chef at the Salt Lake City chocolate shop Chez Nibs, told the Salt Lake City Tribune that she cut her salted caramel bread pudding from the menu. It takes about 30 whole eggs, plus another 30 to 40 egg yolks, to make 36 bread puddings, she said.
Substitutes for eggs
The egg crisis has led to chefs and cookbook authors coming up with recipes that avoid using eggs. All Recipes has more than 1,500 egg free ideas.
posted a recipe for egg free chocolate cookies on his Substack. KitchenAid offers 11 substitutes for eggs, including mashed banana, applesauce, yogurt and aquafaba. I’ve also swapped in canned pumpkin.The shift away from eggs reminds me of what our parents and grandparents had to do when shortages took place during the Depression and various wars. They came up with all kinds of work arounds, such as Ration Cake, which you can see above.
In fact, Spice Cake became popular as a way to enhance flavor without scarce ingredients. A Canadian version of the recipe says it is so moist it doesn’t even need frosting.
Let’s hope the shortages don’t spread any farther and that agriculture experts are able to arrest the spread of avian flu. In the meanwhile, see if any of these eggless variations suit you.
British Female Chefs Rise Up Against Harassment
A few weeks ago, British celebrity chef Jason Atherton caused a stir when he declared that he had not seen any sexism in restaurant kitchens.
British women chefs heartily disagreed. Seventy signed an open letter that decried sexism in the culinary world. They said the hierarchy in kitchens was “fundamentally flawed” and criticized the Michelin Guide for only minimal female representation in its UK awards.
“Sexism has been and remains a pervasive issue in our industry, shaping the culture of our kitchens in ways that diminish the potential and contributions of countless talented women," the letter said.
"We need you to know that we are tired. Exhausted by an industry so systematically flawed that we struggle to see ourselves within it."
Atherton subsequently backtracked, saying that he denounced sexism, although he reiterated that he personally had not witnessed it.
The Michelin Guide said in a statement that it condemned all acts of violence and harassment. But it acknowledged that "gender stereotypes were deeply seeded" in the industry, which was "unfortunately reflected" in their selections.
Boston Won’t Get A Guide Any Time Soon
Speaking of Michelin, there is no guide for Boston, although it has been home to generations of the nation’s best-known chefs. Axios Boston reports that the Hub is not likely to get a Michelin Guide any time soon, because city leaders are loathe to spend the money needed to attract it.
It can cost a community or a state hundreds of thousands of dollars — or more — to convince Michelin to send its inspectors.
According to Axios, Boston's tourism organization, Meet Boston, is in discussions to bring the guide to the city. But it says it needs to ensure any local financial investment pays off for the restaurant industry, tourists and consumers.
Dave O'Donnell from Meet Boston told Axios it's not as simple as paying a subsidy to the company and getting a guide.
"There's a lot of elements of the guide in how we would create a launch plan and a strategy to amplify and grow the number of restaurants that are recognized," O'Donnell said, adding, "We're just not there yet in terms of that comprehensive strategy."
My take: don’t bother. Stars can boost business, of course. But there are so many other places to get restaurant ratings, from magazines to Eater to social media influencers, that if Michelin isn’t in Boston by now, it’s not going to matter.
Open Table Wins Restaurants Back From Resy
You might have spotted the Grub Street piece last week about Open Table. The venerable reservations site is scoring some victories by luring restaurants back from Resy.
In the past couple of years, Resy was attracting top restaurant names, many of them in New York City, thanks in part to its owner, American Express. That wasn’t as true outside the East Coast, where Open Table has remained a popular reservations site, or internationally.
However, the competition spurred Open Table to upgrade and reach out to some of the places that defected. I also think the well-reported difficulty that many people have had in getting reservations has played a role.
Do you have a preference for one site over the other?
KFC HQ Is No Longer in Kentucky
The state of Kentucky has been an integral part of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s brand since the company was founded by Harlan Sanders in 1952.
Actually, the first outlet was in Utah, and Sanders himself was from Indiana, but he got his start at a roadside stand in Kentucky and served as the chain’s spokesman until his death in 1980. He continues to be the visible symbol in the chain’s advertising.
However, KFC, as it has since been rebranded, will soon shift its headquarters from its iconic mansion in Louisville to Plano, Texas, where it will team up with Pizza Hut, also owned by Yum Brands.
Lou Today reports that 100 headquarters employees will be asked to relocate within six months, while another 90 remote workers are being told to report to the office.
As a parting gift, Yum is donating a $1 million endowment to the University of Kentucky.
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
My editor at Food & Wine asked me to write a primer for people hit by high grocery prices, but who had no idea how to economize. I feel lucky that my parents, who both lived through the Depression, taught me ample ways to save money. But, even I’m learning some new ones.
On the Lions, Towers & Shields podcast this week, our panel looked at one of my favorite underappreciated movies: Paris Blues. It stars Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Joanne Woodward and Diahann Carroll in one of her first significant roles. There is also a cameo by Louis Armstrong, and the music is by Duke Ellington.
This pretty cover above is for
new book. It won’t be out until October, but place a pre-order now and you’ll get a nice present come autumn.I’d be happy to hear from you! Here’s where to find and follow me.
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Enjoy the end of February and see you next week.
Farmers markets in San Francisco have proven to be a helpful resource for eggs. Sometimes they may be less expensive than a traditional store or green grocer, and sometimes they may be the same price,or even more expensive. But you can be confident that the eggs are fresh and, more often than not, qualify as organic.
Thank you for sharing the link to the "1940s Housewives" YouTube channel. Growing up, I remember hearing stories from my grandparents and parents about how they had to manage food rationing during WWII (my grandparents also shared how they had to scrimp and save during the Great Depression). I expect the YouTube series will be a helpful source of ideas of how to manage when eggs are too expensive, unavailable, or both.