We have many documents on the consumption of eggs in Antiquity: the Phoenicians preferred ostrich eggs, the Romans those of the blue peacock while the Chinese swore by those of the pigeon. The famous Apicius gives many recipes based on eggs (flans, omelets), but in Rome and all around the Mediterranean, they remained a marginal food, reserved for the rich, the poor preferring to wait for the eggs to turn into chickens to eat them.
From the 15th century, the chicken egg of lines originating in Asia became established in Europe. In the 17th century, we know in France at least 60 recipes to prepare it. Louis XV did a lot for the development of the consumption of eggs: he loved them, especially boiled or in meringues. The hens were installed even in the attics of Versailles and supplied the royal egg cups on a daily basis. At that time, the French consumed an average of 60 eggs per year (they now consume 250!).
In the 19th century, clearly more productive breeds of hens, selected by the Chinese, arrived in Europe, arousing the envy of all breeders. At the same time, about a hundred other races are being created, some just for their flesh, others for their eggs. In the twentieth century, the first methods of industrial breeding appeared: some hens were crammed into boxes, kept at an ideal temperature and subjected to an optimal degree of sunlight: productivity increased, but quality was felt. Nothing beats eggs from free-range hens!