As a starving homeless child, Madred scavenged for and ate raw taspar eggs straight from the shell. He found three in a nest in a burnt-out building. Though he planned to save the other two for later, an older boy stole them from him, but not before breaking Madred's arm. Several years later, in 2369, Gul Madred served a live taspar egg in a similar manner to a captive Captain Jean-Luc Picard in an effort to degrade him. Picard, however, refused to give in to Madred, and ate the raw Taspar, much to Madred's amusement. (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part II" )