The Time Egg Spoons Stirred A Huge Controversy

On a 2009 episode of "60 Minutes," CBS host Lesley Stahl introduces celebrity restaurateur Alice Waters — the founder of Berkley institution Chez Panisse — as having "done more to change how we Americans cook, eat, and think about food than anyone since Julia Child." Waters is a central figure in the Slow Food revolution, a name coined by a global organization founded 1989 that aims to "prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life, and combat people's dwindling interest in the food they eat." While Waters didn't found that organization, she played a big part in bringing its values to the attention of American chefs and gastronomes in the 1970s, per Business Women. 

Stahl says Waters was "one of the first" to serve antibiotic- and hormone-free meat and "fresh, organic, locally grown" fruits and vegetables at her restaurant. Later in the episode, Waters invites Stahl to her home for breakfast to demonstrate her cooking ethos. "I'm gonna cook some eggs," she says. 

But she doesn't bust out a cast-iron skillet. Instead, she pours an egg into a shallow, long-handled spoon and wields it over the open flames of her kitchen's built-in fireplace. For such a little tool, that egg spoon caused quite a stir in the food world.

Nine years after Alice Waters appeared on "60 Minutes," a sea of controversy surrounding the humble egg spoon had transpired among titans of the food industry and #MeToo activists alike. In a breakdown of the arguments on both sides of the aisle, The New York Times called the egg-spoon discourse a key moment in "the great food culture wars of the 21st century." The think-piece buzz gave way to a $250 hand-foraged egg spoon (pictured) peddled by Waters' daughter, Fanny Singer, who curates the home-goods website Permanent Collection.  

The Times looks to the late Anthony Bourdain as a vocal leader of the anti-egg-spoon camp. The Travel Channel host allegedly called Waters "Pol Pot in a muumuu," referring, with great hyperbole, to the former Cambodian dictator. "She used six cords of wood to cook one egg for Lesley Stahl," he added. Bourdain was suggesting that Waters' preferred method for cooking a simple egg was "the embodiment of food elitism," which, per The Times, is a common criticism of the Slow Food movement as a whole. 

On the other side of that argument, celebrity chefs including Samin Nosrat, who famously cut her teeth at Waters' Chez Panisse, have chalked up egg-spoon haters as anti-feminist jerks. 

In response to those who called the egg spoon a symbol of elitist cooking (it requires a fireplace or an open flame, it's expensive, and it cooks an egg in significantly more time than a standard pan), cookbook author and New York Times food columnist Samin Nosrat said the egg spoon is "probably a lot less elitist" than other egg-cooking gadgets commonly lauded by male chefs. "Is it any more practical to sous-vide an egg? No," she said, per The Times. "But it's this amazing thing because a man is using it."

Upon the release of Permanent Collection's signature egg spoon, Fanny Singer seconded Nosrat's sentiment. "What's ridiculous is that we treat men and women differently," she said. "I have never heard the word 'precious' used with a man who has promoted some little specialized gadget." 

The egg spoon expectedly sold out in the thick of the debate, but if you're interested in trying one for yourself (and you have a couple hundred bucks to spare), you'll be happy to know that the tool is back in stock on Permanent Collection. The original version is $310, with a copper version going for $425.