overtones of light and life. It comes from
the Old English for “yellow,” whose Greek
cousin meant “yellow-green,” the color of
new plant growth. Both the Old English
and the Greek derive ultimately from an
Indo-European root meaning “to gleam, to
glimmer.” The same root gave us glow and
gold.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