Palaeolithic Protein, Pompeii and dippy eggs for The People
Did you know we've been eating eggs for over two million years? Cave paintings from the Palaeolithic era tell us that eggs were a key part of the hunter-gatherer diet. Hieroglyphics and tomb paintings from Ancient Egypt show eggs being stored and eaten. And Horace tells us that Roman meals progressed "ab ovo usque ad mala" - "from the egg to the apples".
But what about Egg Cups? When did we stop scooping out the protein for survival, and start putting them on tiny thrones? Silver egg cups were dug up at Pompeii so we know the Romans were at it. They pop up in Dutch Old Master pictures of lavish banquets, and Louis XV had a very ornate porcelain set; delicate, ornate egg cups have been on the tables of wealthy homes for a long time.
Leap forward to today and we eat about 7.2 million boiled eggs a day in the UK. That's a lot of egg cup action. This started with the industrial revolution which enabled mass-produced porcelain and wood-turning, making affordable egg cups available to the middle-classes. With this came access to the soft-boiled egg for all: you can't hand-peel a soft-boiled egg, so pre-egg cups, you had to have them hard-boiled, scrambled or fried. But with your egg propped up, you can indulge in a gooey yoke, or dip away with your soldiers, something which had been the preserve of the aristocracy until that point.
So when designing a Kalinko egg cup, which should it be? An opulent throne for the most perfect edible form that exists in nature? Or something that speaks of utility and simple pleasures?
We couldn't decide, so we made both. A baby golden goblet for your dippy egg, and an antiqued version which feels like it has come off a 16th century ironmonger's workbench.
We also made them adorable matching spoons, because why not?
They're here in time for Easter, but in our house, they're here for every day, because it's sometimes the smallest things which spark the greatest joy, and this is one of those times.
