¶ Pars IIII. De electione ovorum ad cibum. Ova gallinarum prae caeteris eligimus. non opus est autem aliorum quoque ovorum facultates enumerare, quod natura eorum cum gallinaceis conveniat, Serapio. Gallinarum ac phasianorum ova praestantiora sunt, deteriora vero anserum ac struthocamelorum, Galenus. Inter ova principatum tenent pavonina, deinde vulpanseris, tertio gallinarum, Epaenetus et Heraclides Syracusanus apud Athenaeum[1]. Secundum a gallinaceis locum merentur ova avium, quae cursu gallinae procedunt, (quae affinitatem cum gallinis habent,) ut sunt altedarigi et alduragi[2], et alchabegi, et altheiugi, Avicenna. Gallinae et perdicis ova laudantur prae caeteris ceu magis temperata, deinde anatis, (forte, anseris,) quamvis malum reddant nutrimentum. Alia vero ova, ut parvarum avium aut magnarum, comedenda non sunt nisi medicinae causa, Rasis.

¶ Section 4 - Choice of the eggs as food. We prefer the eggs of hen in comparison with others. Really it is not necessary to list the properties also of the other eggs, since their composition coincides with those of hen, Serapion. The eggs of hen and pheasant are the best, those of goose and ostrich are the worse, Galen. Among the eggs the record is hold by those of peacock, then by those of shelduck, in third place by those of hen, Epaenetus and Heraclides of Syracuse in Athenaeus. After those of hen the second place are deserving the eggs of birds which when racing pass in front of a hen (which have affinity with the hens), as the altedarigi and the alduragi - francolins, and the alchabegi, and the altheiugi, Avicenna. The eggs of hen and partridge are praised in comparison with others since are of more balanced composition, then those of duck (perhaps of goose), although supplying a bad food. But the other eggs as those of little or big birds, are not to be eaten but for therapeutic reasons, Razi.

Ova gallinarum omnibus praeferunt, maxime si ex gallo conceperint. nam zephyria minus sapiunt, Platina. Ova subventanea minora sunt, et minus iucundi saporis (utpote minus concocta[3]) et magis humida quam ea quae foecunda gignuntur, Aristot.[4] et Plinius[5]. Ova recentia veteribus plurimum praestant. quippe optima sunt recentissima, vetustissima autem pessima quae vero in horum medio sunt, proportione recessus ab extremis, bonitate aut pravitate inter se differunt, Galenus lib. 3. de alim. et alibi, et Serapio. ova recentia, plena sunt: vetustiora ut plurimum circa partem latiorem inania. Sunt quae dum aperiuntur vel refringuntur, diffluant, vitello praesertim: quod signum est vetustatis. Quod si vitellus ovo aperto integer manserit, et medio eius gutta rubicunda et veluti sanguinea apparuerit, (ex qua corda pullorum initio constitui solent,) signum est ova esse ad cibum adhuc laudabilia, Tragus.

They prefer the eggs of hen to all others, above all if they conceived them thanks to the rooster. In fact the zephyrian eggs - the sterile ones - are less tasty, Platina. The eggs full of wind - the sterile ones - are smaller and of less pleasant taste (since less warmed) as well as more damp than those laid after have been fertilized, Aristotle and Pliny. The fresh eggs are far better than the old ones. Without doubt are excellent those just laid, those too much old are very bad, and those midway, according to the gap between the two ends, differ within them for  tastiness or bad taste, Galen in III book of De alimentorum facultatibus and in other treatises, as well as Serapion. The fresh eggs are full: as many they are old so many they are empty at the blunt edge. There are some eggs spreading when opened or broken, above all with regard to the yolk: this is a sign of old age. But if, once the egg is opened, the yolk remains intact, and at its center is visible a red and bloody drop (from which are accustomed to take origin the hearts of the chicks), this is a sign that the eggs are still reliable as food, Hieronymus Bock said Tragus.

Sapidiora sunt ova quae ex gallinis pinguibus, non macilentis, sunt nata: et ex depastis triticum, hordeum, milium, panicum, potius quam herbas, Platina. Ex ovis recentibus si quae in vitelli superficie venulas rubicundas habuerint, in cibo laudari audio. Ova oblonga a quibusdam mascula censeri, et salubriora sapidioraque rotundis, ab aliis vero rotunda haberi mascula, recitatum est supra in C. Arabes praeferunt oblonga, parva, tenuia, ut Tragus citat. Idem ova recentia in plenilunio exclusa, tanquam praestantiora, cum ad cibum ceu durabiliora, tum ut gallinis supponantur, colligi iubet. De ovis praecipue vitellus probatur Avicennae, et ova ipsa potius simpliciter parata, quam aliis admista, ut quidam citant. Magis nutriunt et subtiliora sunt ova, quae duos vitellos habent, Elluchasem.

The eggs laid by fat hens are tastier, not by gaunt hens: as well as by those which ate wheat, barley, millet, foxtail millet, rather than grasses, Platina. If among fresh eggs there are some having little red veins at the yolk's surface, I hear that they are praised as food. The sharp eggs by some people are regarded as giving birth to males and healthier as well as tastier than the round ones, by others on the contrary are regarded as masculine the round  ones: I told this previously in the paragraph C. The Arabs prefer those oblong, small, thin, as Hieronymus Bock reports. He still advises to pick up the recent eggs laid during the full moon, being better, and that they are used as food since they  keep fitting for a longer time, and that they are placed under the hens in order to be brooded. In Avicenna apropos of the eggs the yolk is praised above all, and it is preferable that the eggs are prepared in a simple way rather than mixed with other ingredients, as some are quoting. The eggs having two yolks nourish more and are more refined, Elluchasem Elimithar.

¶ Omnia ova, praecipue passerum, Venerem promovent, Avicenna. Gallinae et perdicis ova genituram augent, et ad coitum stimulant, Rasis. Bulbi, cochleae, ova, et similia, semen augere videntur, non (tollenda videtur negatio[6]) eo quod habeant naturae suae principium cognatum, (ὁμοειδές) et facultates easdem semini, Heraclides apud Athenaeum. apud quem[7] Alexis poeta quoque ova inter cibos Venerem incitantes numerat. Ova promovent coitum, et maxime cum cepis et rapis, R. Moses. ¶ Avicenna in libro de viribus cordis[8], ovis quoque cor roborandi potentiam adscribit. Galenus quidem ovum sorbile vires defectas acervatim (ἀθρόως) restaurare scribit: et in febri cum syncope ex tenuibus succis ova (ovorum vitellos) ante quartum diem exhibuit, Methodi 12.[9] Vitella, maxime sorbilia, cor fovent ac membra nutriunt, Platina.

¶ All the eggs, especially those of sparrows, are aphrodisiac, Avicenna. The eggs of hen and partridge increase the production of sperm and rouse the coition, Razi. It seems that onions, snails, eggs and similar things increase the production of sperm, not (it seems that the negation has to be removed) since they would have the composition of their nature which is similar (homoeidés) to the sperm and its same faculties, Heraclides the Tarentine in Athenaeus. Still in Athenaeus also the poet Alexis lists the eggs among the aphrodisiac foods. The eggs stimulate the coition, and above all with onions and turnips, Rabbi Moses. ¶ Avicenna in the book De medicinis cordialibus attributes also to the eggs the power of strengthening the heart. And Galen writes that the egg à la coque completely (athróøs) restores the exhausted energies: and in the fever joined with faint due to little dense liquids, before four days were elapsed he gave some eggs (yolks of egg), XII book of Methodus medendi. The yolks, above all to be sipped, warm the heart and nourish the limbs - or male members?, Platina.

¶ Pars V. De albuminis e vitelli facultatibus alimentariis seorsim. Ova temperata sunt: sed albumen ad frigiditatem declinat, vitellus ad caliditatem: utrunque humidum est, praecipue albumen, Avicenna, et Isaac, quanquam Galenus Ovi crudi albumen (inquit) lana molli exceptum, vel totum ovum agitatum, utiliter imponitur ambustis, quae moderate refrigerat et sine morsu siccat[10]. Sed dici potest, ovi tum album tum luteum, alimenti quidem ratione corpora nostra humectare: foris vero applicatum nonnihil siccare. Ovorum album aegre concoquitur, Galenus Methodi 12. Vitelli facilius coquuntur quam albumina, Idem ad Glauconem lib. I. Id cum fiat Aphrodisiensis inquirit problematum 2. 84. Vitellus (inquit) calidus, albumen humidum et frigidum est. Et rursus, Vitellus plus caloris quam siccitatis habet. Dandi sunt in syncope ex tenuibus humoris, Galenus Methodi 12. quod cum facillime concoquantur, subito et multum et probe alant, atque ita vires restaurent. Albumen frigidum est et viscosum, nec probum sanguinem generat, et aegre concoquitur: vitellus vero temperatus est, et caeteris albuminis vitiis caret, ut medici quidam referunt. De ovis sufficit vitellum sumpsisse ab autumni medio usque ad medium veris: reliquo tempore albumen etiam cum vitello sumere licebit, Arnoldus de Villanova. Vitella, maxime recentia et sorbilia, ex gallina, perdice, phasiano, cor fovent ac membra nutriunt, in sanguinem enim purum convertuntur, quare qui inanitate laborant, hoc cibo, repurgato prius stomacho, quod facillime in alios humores convertitur, crebro in prima mensa utantur, Platina. Vitelli laudantur, maxime de gallinis iunioribus mares habentibus, Isaac.

¶ Section 5 - The alimentary powers of yolk and albumen separately analyzed. The eggs have a balanced composition: but the albumen tends to the cold, the yolk to the warmth, and both are damp, above all the egg white, Avicenna and Isaac Judaeus, nevertheless Galen is saying: the egg white of a raw egg placed on a cloth of soft wool, or the whole beaten egg, is profitably applied on burns, and that it rather refreshes them and dry them without giving burning. But it can be said that both the white and the yellow of the egg even only as food dampen our body: in fact externally applied they don't dry up at all. The white of egg is badly digested, Galen in XII book of Methodus medendi. The yolks are digested with greater easiness in comparison with egg whites, still Galen in I book of Ad Glauconem de medendi methodo. Why this happens Alexander of Afrodisia is analysing in Problemata II,84 by saying: The yolk is warm, the albumen is damp and cold. And then: The yolk possesses more warmth than dryness. The yolks have to be given in case of collapse due to little thick liquids, Galen in XII book of Methodus medendi. Since, being digested with extreme easiness, they immediately nourish and quite a lot and in an excellent way, and in such a way they restore the energies. The albumen is cold and sticky, neither produces good blood, and is digested with difficulty: on the contrary the yolk has a balanced composition and doesn't possess the other negative characteristics of the albumen, as some physicians report. Of the eggs it is enough to have eaten the yolk from half autumn until half spring: in the remainder time it will be allowed to eat also the egg white together with the yolk, Arnaldo from Villanova. The yolks, above all fresh and à la coque, of hen, partridge and pheasant, warm the heart and nourish the limbs, in fact they are turned into pure blood, thence, the sick people have to use often at breakfast this food after having first polished up the stomach since this food with extreme facility is transformed into other humors, Platina. The yolks are praised, above all if they are of young hens having some males available, Isaac Judaeus.

¶ Pars VI. Apparatus diversi ex ovis. De diversis ovorum cocturis, in aqua, sub cinere, in sartagine, deque ovis pnictis, abunde iam explicatum nobis est Parte prima huius capitis. Ovum cum melle, vel garo, vel sale coctum, est compositum ex diversis facultat. Galenus de victus rat. in morb. ac. Commentario I. Candida si croceos circunfluit unda vitellos, | Hesperius scombri temperet ova liquor, id est garum, Martialis[11]. Ovis sorbilibus aut mollibus condimenti gratia quidam inspergunt cari semen, aliqui (pauci) aquilinae[12] semina, alii scobem nucis myristicae. sal quidem perpetuum est condimentum omnium.

¶ Section 6 - Different ways of preparing the eggs. In the first section of this chapter I have already supplied a lot of explanations about the different manners of cooking the eggs: in water, under the ash, in frying pan, as well as about the drowned eggs. The egg cooked with honey, or with sauce of fish, or with salt, is endowed with different properties, Galen in the first commentary In Hippocratis de victus ratione in morbis acutis. If a candid wave flows around the saffron yolks, a western liquid has to season the eggs made with mackerel, that is the sauce of fish, Martial. As seasoning for à la coque or coddled eggs some people sprinkle seeds of German cumin, others (few of them) seeds of columbine – or aquilegia, other even grated nutmeg. And then, the salt is the universal seasoning for all the types of preparations.