Beethoven's Bizarre Egg-Eating Ritual Was More Intense Than His Music

When you think of Ludwig van Beethoven, you probably think of a wildly talented, intense German composer who shaped much of the way we see classical music today. While you're likely familiar with many of Beethoven's symphonies, you're likely not familiar with his offbeat culinary habits (buckle up, foodie friends — it's about to get weird). Beethoven was pretty indifferent about food in general (and didn't care for people who actually enjoyed it — more on that in a moment), but he was insistent on one strange thing: eating raw eggs — 10 of them, mind you — every Thursday.

A friend and one-time student of Mozart, Ignaz von Seyfried, once shared the composer's odd eating habits, according to the book "The Life of Beethoven" by Anton Schindler. Every Thursday, Beethoven's cook prepared a mushy bread soup (while bread can certainly work to thicken soup in a snap, we're not sure we'd recommend it as the main ingredient), and Beethoven would mix the raw eggs with the soup (no word on whether he ate that white stringy thing attached to the yolk). If they weren't fresh, it was a serious problem. "If it unfortunately happened that any of them were musty, a grand scene ensued," wrote Seyfried, per Schindler's book. Seyfried went on to describe how Beethoven would, at times, throw the raw eggs at his cook if they were not to his liking.

There's a lot to unpack here, isn't there? Friends of Beethoven are said to have discussed the composer's disgust for people who enjoyed food. While this sounds odd, it makes a little more sense if you understand that Beethoven may have had a legit issue with the idea of taking pleasure in food. For reasons unknown, the composer was challenged by severe digestive issues throughout his life (even a modern-day DNA analysis failed to uncover the cause of his tummy troubles). It seems, perhaps, that Beethoven knew exactly what foods his body could tolerate, and didn't want to stray from the beaten path.

While it's tough to imagine someone who struggled with digestive issues insisting on eating 10 raw eggs alongside a bowl of bread soup, it's more understandable when we remember that Beethoven was clearly struggling to find foods he could stomach, and for whatever reason, raw eggs did the trick (we wouldn't recommend eating raw eggs due to the risk of salmonella, though). If you're looking to embody the spirit of Beethoven in the kitchen, give one of his other go-to meals a try. Kick back and enjoy some cheese and salami (it's just not the best idea to store it in your bedroom, à la Beethoven).