“Never Went Back”: 30 Ingredients That Were Game-Changing In People’s Cooking

Some common foods and ingredients aren’t as easily accessible or affordable as before due to macroeconomic shocks. For instance, getting a hold of cheap eggs in the United States and elsewhere in the world can be a real challenge these days. And the situation may get worse later this year. In short, the avian flu has caused a shortage of this ubiquitous food. UN News stated back in December that avian flu has been reported across 5 continents, in 108 countries.

CNN reports that now, in February, some American retailers are limiting the number of eggs customers can buy. “Due to ongoing issues with the supply of eggs, we are currently limiting egg purchases to one dozen per customer, per day, in all Trader Joe’s stores across the country,” a company spokesperson told the news outlet.

Kroger said that some locations are choosing to limit the sale of eggs “based on availability” to two dozen per customer per trip. Costco also confirmed it is limiting the sale of eggs to three packages (usually sold in cartons of two or four dozen).

Some videos and photos on social media show American shoppers stocking up on as many eggs as they can get their hands on. In some states, consumers are showing prices reaching a mind-boggling $10 per egg carton.

Meanwhile, Waffle House is adding a 50-cent charge for every egg that it sells at its restaurants. The company reported that it is “continuously monitoring egg prices and will adjust or remove the surcharge as market conditions allow.”

In the US, egg prices rose a whopping 14% from November to December 2024, as the avian flu ravaged the egg-laying bird population that year. The US Department of Agriculture expects the price of eggs to jump another 20% in 2025.

According to pie artist Jessica, scarcity can be a wonderful motivator for innovation. "The Great Depression and the world wars before and after saw global shortages of all sorts of commodities and common cooking and baking ingredients. As people learned to make do with what they had, bakers got creative… and so did the food marketing departments!" she told Bored Panda via email.

She explained that 'new' foods gained popularity during these times. One such example is the (now-classic) peanut butter and jam sandwich which "replaced the more expensive meat sandwiches, while still providing a decent hit of protein and calories."

"But, knock wood, we don’t need another economic downturn to inspire our culinary innovation!"

Jessica suggested that home cooks can create an occasion where they'd be called to add a more elevated touch. In short, we can make our own opportunities to expand our gastronomic repertoires. "Throw a dinner party, start a supper club, make a pledge with a friend to work your way through a new cookbook… If you take the mundane out of the act of sitting down to eat, chances are you’ll take the mundane out of your baking repertoire too!"

Bored Panda also asked Jessica for some advice for home cooks who might be concerned about the high prices and low availability of eggs due to avian flu. The pie artist opened up to us that she's personally not a fan of egg substitutes in general and would rather eat less of something and enjoy the real deal.

"But I know that is not always an option—especially for professional bakers who rely on volume sales to keep the lights on. In these scenarios, rather than trying to shoehorn in weird binding agents and chemical substitutes for eggs (which certainly exist: agar, pea protein, gelatine, etc.) I would instead look to try out new recipes that never required egg in the first place, and see if you can wean your clients onto those," she suggested.

"Who knows, you may just love your new confection offering! Instead of cake, try pie. Instead of sugar cookies, try peanut butter cookies. Instead of a pretty package of meringues, try a pretty package of fancy chocolate bark. And so on."

If you're a fan of baking and would like to see Jessica's awesome pie art, check out her Instagram account and website, as well as her book Pies Are Awesome. Meanwhile, you'll find her online pie courses on PieSavvy.

What are some ingredients that you’ve previously ignored in the kitchen that you’ve learned to love, dear Pandas? What were your most interesting discoveries?

On the flip side, what are some ingredients that you simply can’t make yourself embrace, no matter what?

We’d like to hear all about it in the comments. And feel free to share what you’re making for dinner tonight, too!