The lines were drawn. On one side were those who viewed cooking an egg over a fire as the embodiment of food elitism and all that is annoying about the Slow Food movement. Only people who are very rich or very poor have fireplaces in their kitchens, critics said. Where is a working parent supposed to find the time?
In the opposing camp were people happy to discover a slow, delicious way to make those farm eggs that they had worked so hard to find. Even if the egg spoon was merely aspirational, it set the bar for a simpler way of cooking and eating — one in which a fire-roasted egg slipped onto levain toast seemed the antidote to an unthinking, tech-dominated culture fueled by unhealthy, overly processed food.
I read the article. The photograph of the spoon itself made me immediately desirous.
For my birthday, I would love to go camping and someone would surprise me with the egg spoon as a gift, then I would make breakfast for everyone over the fire: freshly caught trout sizzling in a cast iron pan, and eggs gently cooked in my beautiful new egg spoon.
I am not under the impression that Waters is Marie-Antoinette-ish in terms of wealth, though sometimes her conviction when it comes to attempts to avail good quality food everywhere may give off an elitist vibe. She getting a spoon forged specifically for egg cooking may elicit some eye rolls. But then again, passionate people spends lots of money on their hobbies and professions. So chefs spending money on kitchens and cooking equipment doesn’t come as a surprise. And if she uses the spoon all the time, then why not? That’s $250 to much better use than $250 spent on something that gathers dust in the closet.
Perhaps the ‘coop-to-spoon’ crowd 30 miles south of Berkeley may represent a larger cultural issue:
First of all, let’s not hijack the word “elitism”. The anti-elitism and anti-intellectual movement is getting silly.
A better question: is Waters being wasteful or being arrogance? I do think having a ironsmith making a custom spoon (just for egg) cooking over a coal fire at your home is definitely not environmental. However, there are definitely worse way to ruin our environment than this. This just looks a lot more visible.
Personally, I think, as long as she enjoys the egg spoon and use it often, then it is not being wasteful. It is no more wasteful than a Japanese sushi chef who asks for a custom yanagiba knife (~$600-2000) to slice his fish all day long.
It is her kitchen, so she can do whatever she likes.
This is hell alot better than the raw water movement.
I just thought the whole article was a waste of space. I love reading the Food Section when I get home from work on Wednesdays, and this was about a big bunch of nothing!
We’re sorry to hear about wasted time, when important work has to be done.
Our seriously credentialed professional economist friend for life would likely call the egg spoon, but not a wok ladle that could do the same job over Chinese charcoal too precious for this pretentious application, proof of a dysfunctional demand curve.
