Unscrambling the chicken or egg issue

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? This cause and effect conundrum can be unscrambled metaphorically, philosophically, theologically, scientifically or as a delicious Durban curry. Ye olde Greek philosophers used the poultry paradox to brood over whether the world had an absolute beginning or was, as Aristotle believed, “an infinite sequence, with no true origin”. A similar understanding of the chicken/egg issue is found in Hindu and Buddhist theology which holds that time is cyclical and that there is no first in eternity.

Team Chicken generally rules the roost among the Abrahamic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) which have a common concept of divine creation within which the deity brings forth fully formed birds. On Day 5 of Genesis we are told that “God said, ‘let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.’ And just like that they were there in all their winged glory. No eggs involved. While there is no specific mention of chickens, most traditional African creation narratives favour bird over egg. Zulu origin lore refers to a fully formed holy Ingonghulu (Bateleur eagle) falling from the tree of life.

The founding father of Team Egg is Charles Darwin who proposed that all species evolved from other species. Following on from this, many modern geneticists argue for a sequence in which neither of the parent birds were chickens but a fertilised egg containing chicken DNA came into existence because there were gene mutations either in the mother bird’s ovum or the father’s sperm, or in the zygote (fertilised egg) proto-chick. As American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson recently tweeted to his five million followers: “Which came first: the chicken or the egg? The egg – laid by a bird that was not a chicken.”

Warwick University’s Professor John Harding disagrees with the above eggsperts. His 2010 paper enticingly entitled Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei by an Eggshell Protein reports on a protein (ovocleidin-17, OC-17) found in the uterus of chickens which causes the formation of the thickened calcium carbonate shell around eggs. Because OC-17 is expressed by the hen and not the egg, the first chicken can be considered to have preceded the first egg.

When it comes to the kitchen, eggs tend to be consumed first as breakfast food while chicken meat is generally reserved for later meals. Lovely as a boiled egg or a roast chicken is eaten on its own, some of the most exciting tastes and textures occur when we abandon the “rules” about when each ingredient “should” be served and combine them into a single recipe. The fragrant flavours of Greek Avgolemono egg and lemon sauce are wonderful whisked into chicken stock as a silken soup. Hearty, comforting, layered loveliness emerges from every bowl of Japanese Oyakodon as softly poached egg meets grilled chicken, then rice in a sweet-salty soy, sake and mirin mélange. Best of all is the KZN culinary classic, chicken and egg curry. The queen of such combination curries is Cindy Valayadam, small farmer and owner of Cindy’s Fresh Produce in Umhlali, who shared her recipe with Erica Platter and Clinton Friedman in Durban Curry: So Much of Flavour. One bite and all thoughts of which came first fade into insignificance.

Cindy Valayadam’s chicken and boiled egg curry

Cindy Valayadam’s chicken and boiled egg curry, from Erica Platter’s Durban Curry: So Much of Flavour. (Photo: Clinton Friedman)