Gather Round the Table: Egg Cookery

One of the true fathers of western cuisine, Auguste Escoffier, said “Of all the products put to use by the art of cookery, not one is so fruitful of variety, so universally liked, and so complete in itself as the egg.”  Legend tells us that Escoffier declared that a chef’s toque (those odd, stovepipe hats we customarily wear), should have 101 pleats, to signify the 101 ways that there are to cook an egg.  In nearly every culture the egg is a symbol of rebirth, a signifier of all the promise of the coming spring.

There are probably far more than 101 ways to cook an egg, in fact in his seminal book The Escoffier Cookbook, the master himself lists 143 recipes for eggs, including such overpowering contrivances as “Jockey Club Eggs:” an egg with foie gras puree, sautéed veal kidneys, sliced truffles and demi glace – keep your cardiologist handy. 

Most of us, though, think only of the eight basic options offered us at the roadside diner: scrambled, omelet, fried (sunny-side, over easy, over hard), poached, hard or soft boiled.  There are secrets to doing any of these well, though, and the differences can make the ordinary egg into something special.

First and foremost is of course freshness, and the best way to assure freshness (short of keeping your own chickens) is to buy them straight from the farm.  An easy way to do this is to join a Community Supported Agriculture (Find a CSA near you).

Technique is the next most important aspect.  Scrambled eggs, for instance, should be well beaten with a teaspoon of milk or cream per egg, salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste.  They should then be cooked rather quickly in a sauté pan with hot clarified butter, stirring constantly to avoid sticking, and never ever browned.

To poach an egg well, remember to add salt and a dash of white vinegar to your 185°f water.  Crack the eggs into a clean bowl first, rather than straight into the water so that if a yolk breaks you can dispose of it without clouding your poaching liquid.  Give the water a good strong stir right before you add the eggs, then gently pour them from the bowl into the spiraling water.  This, along with the vinegar, helps the whites stay with the yolks and not bond with the other eggs.  Remove them in about three minutes, or when the whites (but not the yolks!) are solid.  You can even do this a day ahead, then shock them in ice water, and store in that same water.  The next day, simply reheat them for 1-2 minutes in the same kind of poaching liquid.  Handy when you’re doing breakfast for a crowd.

Hard boiled eggs are simple enough, but it is surprising how many people do them incorrectly.  There should be plenty of boiling, salted water, to which the eggs should be added simultaneously.  A colander with large holes is useful if you are doing several at once.  Medium eggs should be boiled for exactly 8 minutes, large for exactly ten, and then they should be removed from the water and immediately shocked in an ice bath.  If you cut into a hard-boiled egg and find the whites tough and a film of green around the yolk, you’ve over-cooked them.

My favorite, oft-forgotten method is soft-boiled.  It’s the same as hard boiled, but cook them for just 3 minutes, and do not shock.  Rather, serve them hot in quaint little egg cups designed just for the purpose, such as the one in the photo with just a dash of salt. 

		Kurt Michael Friese, Gather Food Correspondent
	Gather ‘Round the Table is a regular feature of Gather Essentials: Food. Chef Kurt Michael Friese is a freelance food and wine writer & photographer. He is also chef and co-owner - with his wife Kim - of Devotay, a restaurant in Iowa City, serves on the Slow Food USA Board of Governors, and is Editor-in-Chief of the local food magazine Edible Iowa River Valley. He lives in rural Johnson County, Iowa. Keep up with Kurt Michael's food series by joining his network, or subscribing to his content.