Eggtastic invention: initiation of McDonald’s Breakfast

Chickens around the world work overtime so as to be able to produce enough eggs to appease the appetite of egg-lovers. Eggs have been a part of the everyday diet of people since antiquity, owing to the health benefits of consuming eggs. In several parts of the world, but especially Europe, America, Japan, and South America, eggs are used not only as a great source of protein but in several dishes that are specific to the cuisine favored in the region. Which is to say that whether it is in the east or the west, Eggs do come up on top as the best.

It will not be wrong to claim that you can take the cuisine out of the eggs (and still happily consume them), but you cannot take eggs out of the cuisine. For a lot of people, eggs are more than just a tasty source of protein, they stand apart in the food kingdom as unique. Although a wide variety of animals produce eggs, humans mostly consume eggs that are laid by chickens. In as much as that, eggs emerging from different parts of the world are different. It is known that China has come up with a type of eggs that remains preserved and is hence called ‘century eggs’. In Japan, eggs are used in many rolled items such as sushi, rice cakes, etc. American eggs are different from eggs that are produced in Europe; as American eggs are first cleaned when they are laid by the chicken but no such cleaning ritual happens in European countries. According to reports published online, Paraguay is the country where most eggs are consumed in the entire world, followed closely by Mexico, France, America, and other European countries. This love affair with eggs cannot be merely described in words as eggs have passed effortlessly through the transparent lines which classify different dishes and cuisines all around the world, leading to its status as a globally produced and consumed winner; and that is when we have not even mentioned the numerous health-benefits associated with the intake of eggs. Looking at this landscape which is perfectly formed for a universal egg-based dish to rise, it is hard to comprehend how no one in the quick service restaurants’ industry thought of incorporating eggs into their menu, except for a man named Herb Peterson.

In 1972, Ray Kroc –the world-renowned genius behind the McDonald’s franchise, was invited to a McDonald’s restaurant in Santa Barbara to try the first McDonald’s burger with eggs. When Kroc saw the breakfast sandwich – hot egg, combined with cheese, Canadian bacon and English muffins, he was baffled as an egg-sandwich was unheard of in those times. However, after taking a bite, Kroc, who had had lunch already, didn’t stop till he had two sandwiches.

“He didn’t want me to reject it out of hand, which I might have done, because it was a crazy idea—a breakfast sandwich. It consisted of an egg that had been formed in a Teflon circle, with the yolk broken, and was dressed with a slice of cheese and a slice of grilled Canadian bacon. This was served open-faced on a toasted and buttered English muffin. I boggled a bit at the presentation. But then I tasted it, and I was sold,” Kroc said.

Eggstastic invention, some would call it (tongue in cheek).

That was the day McDonald’s most popular breakfast item was invented and since then has spread to dominate the vast reach of McDonald’s empire. In the year 1976, the first McDonald’s breakfast menu began that is four years after the EggMcMuffin’s tasting session with Ray Kroc and Herb Peterson.

According to Peterson, while experimenting with egg sandwiches for a breakfast dish, he found out that poached eggs were too runny –they would just run out of the enclosing bacon and muffins, occasionally dripping over whatever he happened to be wearing then. So, after a lot of brain-storming, Peterson came up with an idea to rid the problem: he steamed the eggs in a cluster of rings in which eggs could be given the shape of the muffins. When topped with Canadian bacon, the resulting sandwich turned out to be immensely tasty, and in time, popular.

As it has less sodium in it by virtue of its preparation (steamed), Egg McMuffin became a healthy breakfast sandwich option for a lot of people, owing to its immense popularity in all the continents where a McDonald’s restaurant can be found. Today it is so popular, that in many countries, the sandwich is served all day long.