For culinary visionary Michael Ruhlman, the question is not whether the chicken or the egg came first, it's how anything could be accomplished in the kitchen without the magic of the common egg. Ruhlman starts with perfect poached and scrambled eggs, and builds up to brioche and Italian meringue. Along the way, readers learn to make their own mayonnaise, pasta, custards, quiches, cakes and other preparations that rely fundamentally on the hidden powers of the egg.