It may also be Lucifer tauntingly hinting at the ritual - offering Johnny a soul to devour, much like he devoured Harry's soul when he wolfed down his still beating heart.

Exactly. It's just taunting and intimidation.

All your board are belong to Kestrel

The devil is not giving Angel a chance at reclaiming his soul. Angel is a stone cold killer who reneged on a deal with Satan himself. There's no way in hell "pun intended" that the devil is just gonna say "eh I'm feeling generous today. Here's your soul back in the form of an egg. Just bite it and you can go to heaven."
You have to remember, Cyphre knows that Angel's Johnny Favorite all along. Angel hates chickens because they most likely remind him of all the voodoo rituals involving chickens in the south which subconsciously remind him of that fact that he is indeed Johnny Favorite.
Cyphre is merely taunting him. He knows he won't accept the egg. It'll only make him uncomfortable. When he bites the egg, he's symbolically consuming Angel's soul right in front of him. So yes, the egg has meaning. The egg, like the soul, is also pure. It holds the potential for life but is not yet a living being.
The whole point of the movie is for Cypher to get as much pleasure out of Angel's physical and emotional pain until he comes to the realization that he is Johnny Favorite.

I think Jake Keating is right.
The Devil stories always work better if the devil offers his victim a chance to claim his own soul back. Usually some sort of wager or game. But, as noted, he plays with a rigged deck.

I disagree, BigRich. There was a lot of time and effort put into this scene. The egg has real meaning. No good filmmaker has scenes that mean nothing. I have tried to look up various myths and legends about making deals with the Devil. There's not a lot of information out there and I haven't found anything yet (perhaps because the whole thing about deals with the Devil are ridiculous anyway!)
P.S. Semper Fi! ( Me: 1966-1968 - Da Nang, S. Vietnam) Always good to hear from a fellow Marine.

And what would have happened if Johnny took the egg?
Nothing. It was just a boiled egg.
_
Every person that served can be called a veteran, but not every veteran can be called a Marine.

Well in almost all forms, the Devil is portrayed as a gambling man, always down for a bet. I think he offered it to Johnny knowing full well he'd turn it down. So although it was a gamble, he knew he was holding all the cards.

I don't think the Devil would give someone the opportunity to take his soul back, would he?

Likewise, Angel/Johnny subconsciously takes a pinch of salt and throws it over his shoulder after declining the offer of an egg before Cyphre takes a bite.

Perhaps as one of the "rules" when making a deal with Lucifer or perhaps because Louis Cyphre was being sneaky and cynical, Louis tells Johnny that in many religions the egg is a symbol of the soul. Then he offers an egg to Johnny. What he is really doing is giving Johnny a chance to reclaim his soul, but Louis knows Johnny won't take the egg because of his dislike of chickens. Louis then eats the egg, sealing Johnny's doom. Very subtle scene.
Hmm, interesting. I never looked at it like that before. Do you mean symbolically or contractually reclaim his soul? You have to remember at that time Johnny/Harry actually still had his soul. Somehow I doubt Louis woulda gave up going after his soul if he did indeed take the egg.
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