Hi
Just wanted to add my 2 cents to this posting. I had the capriciosa pizza at the La Monte Carlo in Rome. Theres had a fried egg on it. We're unacustomed to it. It's good. Years ago I had it with a raw egg on it. Wasn't bad either.

And here I am trying mightily to get pizzerias (Italian style ones, that is) here in the U.S. to add an egg to mine. Or to my kids' actually, who love this sort of pizza. Some pizzas come with them as part of the formula (but this will vary a lot, so no point trying to figure it out, and in any case "formula" pizzas typically have the ingredients listed) and you can also add one if you'd like. They often come from the kitchen with the egg already on (still pretty soft); added at the table the heat of the pizza will partially cook it.

If you're bound and determined to avoid raw eggs you'll want to stay away from mayonnaise in a nice restaurant (as they'll have made it fresh) and chocolate mousse (should you happen to visit France anytime soon). Or you could just bring all your own food from home.

Nice to finally see some people who aren't afraid to live a little by eating uncooked eggs! Mousse can only be made with raw eggs.

Cocktails often, as I've said before have raw egg products in, it won't kill you, don't worry.

I've never had a raw egg broken over a pizza anywhere, but I'd eat it if I did. I love eggs in all shapes and forms, and particularly the ever-so-slightly poached ones I've had on pizzas in both Italy and France. I also love a poached egg on top of an endive and lardons salad - yum!

I wonder what it is about eggs that turns people into intolerant and unkind zealots. Eggs were the single food that I simply refused to eat. I had no problem as a child with brains and eels and bitter greens and blood pudding and things that many adults to this day are afraid to try, but just didn't like eggs. I was practically tortured and forced to swallow eggs raw, because of some fanatic notion that children MUST eat eggs in the morning. People have strong likes and dislikes about all sorts of controversial foods without feeling smugly superior to those who have an aversion to those foods AFTER trying them. Yet eggs seem to bring out the worst in people. They inspire Therese, for example, to make the incredibly arrogant, patronizing, belittling comment that people who won't eat raw eggs might simply take their own food from home. Must be some strange nasty chemical in the eggs...the hen's revenge perhaps.

Thanks to everyone for their information and thoughts. I'm a person who does not like the thought of an egg - raw or cooked - on top of my pizza and I now have some good advice on how to avoid the situation. I'm sure I'll enjoy many great Italian pizzas while I'm there - even if they don't have an egg on top.

Thanks again.
Martha

There seems to be some disagreement as to the relative harm of raw eggs:

http://www.warrington.gov.uk/service...dvisory_05.htm

m_kingdom, I don't think eggs are 'treated'to reduce chances of salmonella poisoning. You might be getting confused with the trend to use pasteurized liquid egg products in the production of such foodstuffs as tiramisu, mayonaisse, etc.

This is not to say that salmonella poisoning is necessarily fatal or even severe in many people. But having had it I can assure you I don't want to repeat the experience.

Well, I don't want salmonella, either, but I do think Americans are incredibly finicky about their eating habits, not wanting unpasteurized things or things that haven't been chemically treated, or thigs that are raw, and all the while being more obese and unhealthy than many other populations.

I love eggs, particularly those of my French neighbor, who gives them to me right after they are laid - it's incredible the difference in the taste between these eggs and ones you get in a carton at an American supermarket - no comparison at all!

There are lots of things in Europe that are prepared with raw eggs that unsuspecting Americans probably never ever realize, like mayonnaise and tiramisu and chocolate mousee - as well as unpasteurized cheeses - oh no!

I agree that there is a small risk for a very small proportion of the American tourist population in eating these things, but in all honesty, there's never been a scandal of any sort associated with this, and if Americans grew up eating things other than those flame-dried, pasteurized, chemically melted, and "processed" foods, I am convinced they would have absolutely no bad reactions to such foods in Europe.
Mind you, I've gotten dysentery in Morroco and Tunisia and Mexico, so I know about germs, but that wasn't from raw eggs or unpasteurized cheese - that was from GUCK.

For Americans: I assume you know that a true Caesar's Salad has a raw egg.

I know I couldn't eat a raw egg on pizza but, like StCirq, I've had pizza with cooked egg in the middle. Had a spinach, garlic, and white cheese pizza that had an egg broken over it in the middle before it was baked, so that the egg was fully cooked. Delicious!

Apparently there's more consistency among the various versions of pizza capricciosa than I thought. Some may include an egg, but that doesn't seem common. There are several common elements in the following recipes, but eggs are NOT among them. So, egg haters, there's no need to avoid a pizza just because it is called capricciosa, though you might want to read the list of ingredients or ask to be extra sure, if, like me, you'd be repulsed by a raw or poached egg on your pizza. I hope these links will not be ruined by those little emoticons where letters and numbers should be:

http://www.theitaliantaste.com/itali...ricciosa.shtml

http://www.i2000net.it/cucina/pizzeria/p4.htm

http://www.incucina.tv/default.asp?c...cetta%2EASP%3F

http://www.cucinaevini.it/ricette_de....asp?p_id=1130

http://www.cucinareconamore.it/ricet...apricciosa.htm


The self-righteousness of the raw egg supporters still amazes me. (Could it really be a side effect of eating eggs?)

cmt -
I think we "righteous raw egg eaters" really are talking broadly about natural foods that are handled/raised/produced properly are fairly safe to eat, except if your allergic.

Remember the Chi-Chi's green onion incident just a few months ago? And the bad strawberries and the Jack-in-the-Box incident. All three outbreaks were due to bad handeling or processing.

I agree that a lot of Americans are germ obsessed yet eat all sorts of processed, un-natural, chemical, hormone and antibiotic laden foods. That has to have more of an negative effect on the human body than the bacteria in a piece of raw milk cheese.

Mark, you said: "I think we "righteous raw egg eaters" really are talking broadly about natural foods that are handled/raised/produced properly are fairly safe to eat, except if your allergic."

I agree completely. I eat raw milk cheeses, and I think most people with uncompromised immune systems, who are not pregnant, should not fear eating well-prepared raw milk cheese. I also feel a lot more comfortable eating unwashed fruit from an unsprayed tree in a relatively unpolluted area, than the heavily treated supermarket fruits, even after they are washed. Unpasteurized apple cider was fine, when produced from clean apples under proper conditions, but because some people got sick from cider pressed from apples that had lain on the ground and become contaminated, unpasteurized cider has been taken off the market (at leasx where I live). I also think that healthy children, growing up in excessively sterile conditions, may not develop as strong an immune system as children who are exposed to somewhat more natural conditions, and their exposure to all those germ-killing chemicals can hurt them a lot more than a little dirt.

I don't avoid raw eggs because I'm excessively delicate, unwilling to experience foreign cultures, finicky about trying new things, ignorant, etc. I simply don't want to eat more than a small amount of egg, cooked or raw, because they are hard for me to digest, and I find raw eggs repulsive because of their texture and because I was forced to eat them in a very unpleasant way in early childhood and the physical memory of the experience is still vivid. I'm not germ phobic.

I did not include you among the self-righteous just because you eat those awful raw eggs. But if you read through the thread you will see some pretty self-righteous comments. (It appears that the effects of egg consumption haven't yet warped your personality :) )

Carol,

I hope I can be kind in telling you this. You re not seeing yourself as others are seeing you. Look at the language you have used. You have called this "egg on pizza" disgusting, repulsive and said that you were horrified. You referred to a sadistic chef. You speculated (in joking hyperbole, one hopes) to a strange nasty chemical in eggs. You labeled most of the readers of this forum as self-righteous - - when you were upset with one person, and you slung some rather vitriolic language at her: arrogant, intolerant, unkind and more. Might it be that her suggestion that you bring food from home was the same joking hyperbole as your "chemical" assertion?

This thread started out not even focused on whether the practice was tasty or healthy, but rather simply a question on language used to identify it.

You have tried to turn it into something quite different. And the language you have used has held a mirror up to you, not to eggs, their consumers, or pizza-lovers.

We should just like to mention that we find the whole idea of eating eggs in any manner to be absolutely disgusting.

Chicken Little,
Henny Penny,
Turkey Lurky,
Mother Goose,
Ugly Duckling

Nice comic relief to add some levity, ira.

I suppose that Mickey and Minnie aren't too crazy over the idea of chocolate "mousse" either.

Ditto Bullwinkle.

Spaghetti Carbonara (sp?) in Nice: the waiter made a small indentation on top and ceremoniously cracked an egg and poured it in. Fine eating.

Orange Julius is not Julius without the raw egg. At one time in my life that was my daily breakfast.

What this thread illustrates to me is the great number of people who know nothing about food. (So, what else is new?)

Even sadder, European artisanal food preparation is a dying tradition and feel free to blame the trial lawyers. I do.

Even though no one has died in France from any of these artisanal methods, the threat of the possibility (real or not) looms like a black cloud and modern politicians are running scared and signing on to non-artisanal "regulation" legislation.

These are tough times for us devoted purists and its only going to get tougher. The world keeps changing.

As for that slice of capricciosa, bring on the egg, please, as long as the egg isn't from an American Supermarket.

Apparently there are enough others who find the raw egg on pizza idea distasteful, or they wouldn't be so concerned about the "language issue" in order to avoid it!

You are having a language problem yourself, if you honestly think I referred to "most" posters on the thread as "self-righteous." A few (very few) of the comments WERE extremely self-righteous and patronizing and that's what I called them.

If, in fact, the thread was indeed simply about a "language question," (and I don't agree that the focus needed to remain so narrow, by the way), there was no need to turn the the discussion into insulting criticism of what some "sophisticated" posters apparently view as germ-phobic, unadventurous American diners. (I'm American, but neither germ-phobic nor unadventurous, not that that particularly matters in the overall scheme of the whole thread.) It's true that travelers will have richer, more stimulating experiences if they are are flexible about trying unfamilar things. But we still have the right to our individual tastes and preferences, which are often based on plenty of experience and not necessarily on ignorance.

The reference to the psychotropic arrogance-inducing chemicals in eggs is so obviously a joke that I can't imagine anyone taking it seriously. On the other had, the standard Fodors refrain suggesting that those unwilling to eat eggs, or use turkish toilets, or tolerate smoke in restaurants, or tolerate any of the other little uncomfortable differences that foreigners occasionally complain about, somehow don't measure up and might as well stay home or lug all their own stuff with them, comes across as just plain condescending and not really humorous at all.

I agree with Carol. It has been an interesting thread in both the language question (been listening to CDs daily) and the deviation into general pizza topping knowledge (always a hot topic).

But there was certainly a certain tangent there where a few shifted onto the subject of not just how to avoid eggs on pizza, but what *sort* of person would avoid them.

I guarantee you that I could bring you something that you wouldn't like, somthing that others in the world may consider delicacies. Maybe even entire cultures of people. So what?

Rex, I think that was uncalled for.

I haven't heard of raw eggs on pizza, but then I am still relatively untraveled, unlike many people posting here. But while I dislike the basic texture of a raw egg, I love the salads in Paris with runny eggs on them.
I never consider germs when eating eggs, but then I do not eat meat for that reason, so call me wacky!
I think this is an interesting and fun thread, I wish some would keep it to the topic and not make it personal.

Update..Who remembers the question, "One egg or two?" (in your malted milk). Another phrase, "What do you want, egg in your beer?". Next time I at my favorite pizza restaurant I will quiz the server about raw eggs on pizza.

This afternoon, for lunch I am planning. along with my pizza with a raw egg on top, some steak Tartar, with another raw egg on top.

with all this talk about raw eggs I'm making pasta carbonara tonight - a bit of pancetta (okay, a lot of pancetta) some onion, cream (heavy cream), some pecorino romano and a couple raw egg yolks.

cmt - there's nothing wrong with personal likes and dislikes (hope I didn't come across as criticizing you) - there are some cuts of meat in Chinatown that I wouldn't dare put in my mouth (yet)

Regarding germs though - I reminded of the people on planes wiping down every surface near them with Purell - a bit over reactionary I think. A friend here in NYC is all hung uip about detoxification - I suggested he consider moving out of NYC first .

Ira - very funny.

"Yet eggs seem to bring out the worst in people. They inspire Therese, for example, to make the incredibly arrogant, patronizing, belittling comment that people who won't eat raw eggs might simply take their own food from home."

You think my closing comment that one might avoid raw egg by bringing food from home was bad? What I was going to write originally would have sent cmt positively around the bend, as I was going to suggest that the diner, when threatened with an egg-bearing waiter (probably lurking just behind her, trying to catch her unawares), leap from her seat, throw her body across the table, and shriek, "No, no, not an EGG..." Don't worry about potential embarassment: Venetians are used to tourists and their quaint ways.

Anyway, it wasn't the eggs that brought out the edge (particularly acute to those force-fed raw eggs as children, what in hell were your parents thinking?), it was Martha's original post: it struck me as funny, and the ensuing "eggs are great/eggs are horrible" thread a bit surreal.

We all have things we don't like or can't eat, and avoiding them at home or when traveling is just one of those things.

Enjoy your pizza in Italy, Martha. We liked Ae Oche in Venice: a big friendly place with an entirely separate non-smoking area (I had kids with me) and ingredients on pizzas were very clearly listed.

"...the great number of people who know nothing about food."

Indeed, Wesley, I must agree: many people even today know little, far too little, about food. And although much improved, history tells us that the Europeans were no different. In 1789 a group of French people with far too little knowledge of food marched to Versailles, where they protested as much to the inhabitants. Despite Ms. Antoinette's best efforts to educate them on the relative merits of cake - or was it raw-milk cheeses - :) - they fed her and her husband to the guillotine in the Place de la Concorde.

Ever since then governments world-wide have been curiously reluctant to dismiss the merits of producing food for the masses, i.e mass food production.

Ira and Marktynernyc:

I'm sorry to inform you that you are going to die, as will all the rest of us some day.

And Ira, thanks for the mention of steak tartar. That is another great dish abhored by most Americans. The best one I've had was at a French restaurant with some business clients in Orange County California. When the waiter brought out the plate of raw hamburger he proceeded to add the raw egg and spices at the table and then placed it in front of me. The guys from Kansas looked astonished. One of them asked, "Well, ain't ya gonna cook it?"

Gosh, I think another Ramos Fizz is in order after reading all these posts!

OK, Therese, I see what you mean. http://www.olives.co.nz/images/olive...ck-enh-500.gif (For the record, my father was always at work on those mornings when I had to drink raw eggs.) As for raw egg breakfasts, I wouldn't wish them on a dog, http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/L..._calendar.html , but then, left to their own devices, my dogs try to eat even worse things than that.

By the way, one of my friends commented that I shouldn't be so horrified at raw eggs, considering that I'd eaten raw pork two years ago in Milan. I did, really. I had arranged to meet an acquaintance from an Internet forum (not Fodors) and we were having dinner at a restaurant in his neighborhood. The waiter/owner had shown us the fish he was going to cook for us, a nice practice that was familiar to me from some restaurants in Greece and Italy and a Chinese restaurant at home. So when I saw the raw sausages on the table, I thought he was just showing them to us before cooking them, too. But he left them sitting there alone for five minutes, ten minutes. I asked about them. They were to be eaten raw. And they were pork! My friend ate it, so I ate it, out of a combination of politeness and curiosity. I figured my trip was almost over, and when I got home two days later I could ask my doctor whether there was some preventive wormer I should take to kill any trichina larva, similar to the once-a-month heartworm pill my dogs take that will kill worm larvae before they have a chance to grow and cause heart damage. No such worm pill for humans. But my doctor told me that he would've eaten it, too, and that trichinosis is rare or nonexistent in pigs fed a good vegetarian diet under sanitary conditions, and that raw pork from healthy animals isn't any more dangerous to eat than raw beef, which lots of people eat. All this has nothing to do with eggs, but I thought it might be interesting. When I told this story, some people couldn't even stand to hear it, because they were so horrified at the thought of my having eaten raw pork sausage. How silly--it's not as if I'd eaten a raw egg or something....

>How silly--it's not as if I'd eaten a raw egg or something....<

Or a raw oyster

hopscotch -
steak tartar is not hamburger but ground sirloin - very different types of meat. Pastis, over in the Meatpacking District, makes a great verison of steak tartar. And yes - I know I'm going to die some day - there's a bicycle messenger out there with my name written on it.

ira -
remember when people thought pork chops had to be cooked to the point of drywall consistency? A little pink in my pork doesn't bother me a bit.

Yes, mark.

I think it was the result of reading "The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair.

http://www.drlam.com/A3R_brief_in_do...gs.cfm#RawEggs

Alot of people feed raw eggs to dogs . It gives them a lustruous coat.
Yes, the steak tartar at Pastis, I hear is very good.

So I take it that deep fried cockroaches are out?

"Alot of people feed raw eggs to dogs . It gives them a lustruous coat."

Now I know why my hair is so thick and shiny. But why do I have this uncontrollable urge to chase cars?

I don't know, but I hear yor bark.... :)

So that is why my hair is thining and dry. But if I start eating more raw eggs, will I start chasing my own cats?

Could be visa versa...mew!

marktynernyc

I've been told that steak tartar in France is actually horse meat.

Not in the 5-7th arond.