Every year at Easter time we went to the country to visit grandpère. Though his farm was located only six or seven miles from my childhood home in the heart of France, the trip filled me with a sense of excitement and wonder which could nor have been more incense had he inhabited another sphère planétaire. This feeling of adventure was much more acute during the semaine de Pâques, for Easter in my homeland is almost a greater holiday than is Christmas. At Eastertime the windows of the food shops arc a veritable bouquet of color and are laden with things to cat which lavish the eye as well as the palate. Chez le charcutier there are mouth-watering displays of Easter hams and fancy hors-d'oeuvre, and the confiseries are a delight with chocolate eggs and assorted baskets of bonbons.
In this season the cities are deserted. The residents of Paris, Bordeaux and Lyon leave the noisy boulevards to visit parents or grandparents in the country for the four-day Master week end which begins on Holy Thursday. On Sunday, after Mass, the family spends a good part of the afternoon at table, devouring a bon repas, laughing, and exchanging pleasantries and harmless bits of idle gossip. The Easter table is the yearly pride of every bonne méngère, just as her husband is proud of the bottle of vin du pays which he claims to have found derrière les fagots! Oui! In France, the best bottle is always supposed to be from behind the woodpile.
I suppose that Easter feasting in those days was so important to us because Lenten fasting was so much more rigorous than it is today. As I write this article concerning egg cookery, I am reminded how few eggs we were then permitted during Lent. Like meat, eggs were défendus on Wednesday and Friday, except for very special reasons, and they could not be eaten at all during Holy Week. Since the average Frenchman would rather be deprived of meat than of eggs, this was a real hardship. Rut the restrictions made eggs more important and more appreciated when the forty days of fasting were over. It also put ever)' housewife on her mettle to make up for lost time once eggs were off the proscribed list. At least, that was the circumstance on the farm where my grandmother ruled the kitchen and maintained old-time traditions. At our home in town, my mother was more modern and daring. I recall the visit of an aunt to our house during a certain Wednesday in Lent when my mother served an omelette for supper. “Annette, ” she said to my mother, “nous ne le dirons pat à maman; elle serait trop triste.” (Let's not tell mother about this. It would make her very sad.) Today, of course, all that is changed, and eggs arc a vital factor in the Lenten cuisine.
For the children, there were no Easter toys, no live chicks, no stuffed woolly lambs. We had no Easter bunny to bring us cadeaux, but we were not forgotten, not by grand'maman.' She never forgot to make us gifts of colored eggs. Following her long day of cleaning and cooking, cheese-making and other chores, she boiled eggs and colored them with dyes made of spinach and beets and onion skins. She never began this enterprise until we were in bed and fast asleep, and although as we grew older we knew well what she was up to, we pretended to be surprised.
On Easter Monday, as soon as breakfast was over, each of us took a basket of eggs and raced off to the meadows for the egg-rolling, a symbol of Easter joy after the stern weeks of Lent. When we tired of the game, we gathered the eggs into our baskets and rushed off —past hedgerows suddenly turned white and sweet-smelling with blossoming hawthorn, across fields sprinkled with purple violets—to the area where my grandfather and uncle were plowing. This, too, was part of the Easter Monday ritual.
The burrowing plows uncovered the tiny pale shoots of dandelions which had lain dormant all winter waiting for spring to bring them out. These were fresh, young growths not yet exposed to the sun, and not yet green. In the salad which grandmère made—a traditional post-Lenten dish in our home— they were tender and sweet. She combined them with fresh spring greens which we picked in the meadow and with wedges of our hard-cooked Easier eggs.
When I was thirteen years old and had to go to Moulins to begin my chef's apprenticeship, these pleasant, carefree holidays of childhood were put behind me. On Easter Monday of '98 there was no egg rolling for me. I was receiving a decidedly different introduction to eggs—and this time it was purely culinary.
When I went to Moulins to start as an apprenti in the culinary field, eggs were as familiar to me as any food I knew. I had gathered them by the dozens for my grandmother on the farm, and countless times had broken them into the bowl for the omelettes which my mother prepared so deftly in her black, long-handled omelette pan. Yet on the first Easier Saturday that I spent at the Maison Calondre, I was hardly prepared for the job which 1 was given! Set before me were baskets of eggs to be broken, baskets containing some four or five hundred eggs. For the Easter week-end trade hundreds of pounds of brioche dough would be required and hundreds of eggs had to be broken to produce it. Breaking several hundred eggs was quite different from rolling seven or eight over a lush meadow purple with blossoming violets. Evidemment!
I had never given serious thought to the techniques of handling eggs until I became an apprenti and had to learn to handle great numbers of eggs thriftily and quickly. Perhaps breaking and emptying eggs may seem unimportant, but the contrary is true. Monsieur Calondre rightly insisted that we use a neat craftsmanlike method which would prevent waste.
The classic method of handling eggs is this: Crack the shell on the edge of the bowl and, with half a shell in each hand. empty the contents into the bowl. Run the right thumb around the inside of the half-shell in the left hand to completely clear it of egg white. Fit the other half-shell into this one, and clean it in the same way. Then put aside the tightly wedged shells, To separate eggs, hold the two halves over a bowl and slide the yolk from half to half until all the white has fallen out except the stringy portion attached to the yolk. Remove this by running your thumb against the edge of the shell. Empty the yolk into another bowl and clean both half-shells with the thumb. Trivial? Perhaps. But all the cooking tricks we learn add up to a certain recognizable neatness and precision which is typical of the well-trained chef.
Eggs have a characteristic delicacy which is easily spoiled. An egg may possess a fishy or other extraneous flavor if the hen has supplemented her diet with strongly flavored morsels. This foreign taint may also develop if the egg is stored in the proximity of malodorous foods. One tainted egg can ruin an entire batch of fresh eggs. It is therefore wise to sniff each egg as you break it.
When I was an apprenti we were never permitted to break eggs directly into the large container which held the dozens or hundreds of eggs which were being readied for the day's cooking. Instead, we broke three or four at a time into a small bowl, and made sure each one was sweet and fresh.
Our eggs came from the near-by countryside where the hens ate good grain. It was unlikely that they could be naturally tainted. However, they came to us packed in large baskets of straw from which they sometimes took on an off-odor. It was these oeufs de paille— straw-tainted eggs — which we had to look out for.
“She can't even cook an egg” is a traditional way of describing a really incompetent cook. In one way, an egg is one of the easiest things in the world to cook. But there are pitfalls in egg cookery, as anyone knows who has broken the yolk of a poached egg in lifting it from the water, or suffered a curdled custard or been embarrassed by a separated hollandaise! Eggs are sensitive and must be handled with caution.
Here are some rules for egg cookery: Keep the day's supply of eggs at room temperature. They are then less apt to break in hot water, the yolks and whites mix together more readily, and the whites can be beaten to a greater volume.
Eggs should be cooked slowly, and at moderate temperatures. Overcooking makes eggs tough and leathery in texture.
There are numerous ways of cooking eggs. The following recipes include the basic methods, as well as some traditional variations and garnishes.
EGGS COOKED IN THE SHELL
Les Oeufs à la Coque (Soft-Cooked Eggs)
Cook eggs in simmering water to cover for 3 minutes. Or simmer the eggs for 1 minute, remove the pan from the heat, and allow the eggs to remain in the hot water for 3 minutes.
Les Oeufs Ours (Hard-Cooked Eggs)
Cook eggs in simmering water to cover for 10 minutes. Remove the eggs from the pan and plunge them at once into cold water. This prevents the formation of a dark ring around the yolk and facilitates peeling the egg because a little steam condenses between the egg and its shell.
Les Oeufs Mollets (Coddled Eggs)
Put eggs in boiling water to cover, lower the heat at once, and simmer 5 to 6 minutes. Plunge the eggs immediately into cold water and when they arc cool enough to handle remove the shells. If the eggs are not to be served at once, they may be briefly heated in lukewarm, salted water before serving. Eggs mollet may be served in any way suggested for poached eggs. The whites of these eggs arc firm, the yolks soft.
Les Oeufs à la Tripe (Creamed Eggs and Onions)
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add ½ cup chopped parboiled onions, and sauté slowly until they are soft but not brown. Add 2 tablespoons flour and salt and pepper to taste, and blend well. Add gradually 2 cups hot milk and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. Simmer it until it is reduced by one-third, fold in 6 hard-cooked eggs, sliced into strips, and serve in heated cocottes.
Hot Deviled Eggs
Cut in half lengthwise 6 hard-cooked eggs. Mash the yolks with 1 teaspoon prepared mustard, A tablespoons béchamel sauce (see page 69), and ½ teaspoon salt. Stuff the egg whites and press the halves together. Put one stuffed egg into each of 6 individual buttered casseroles and add Mornay sauce (see page 50) to cover, using 2 cups in all. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and brown under the broiler flame. Sprinkle with paprika and serve very hot. This is a suitable serving for hors d'oeuvre. For an entrée, use 2 eggs per serving.
Oeufs à l'Aurore (Stuffed Eggs Aurora)
Cut in half lengthwise 6 hard-cooked eggs. Mash the yolks with 1 ½ tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons concentrated tomato purée, ½ teaspoon salt, and a dash of pepper. Stuff the egg whites, arrange them on a shallow buttered casserole, and pur the casserole in a moderate oven (350° F.) until the eggs are heated through but not browned. Combine ½ cup concentrated tomato purée with 1 cup boiling béchamel sauce (see page 69) and coat the eggs with this mixture. Sprinkle with 1 hard-cooked egg. chopped, and with parsley and chervil. This is a suitable serving for hors-d'oeuvre. For an entrée, use 2 eggs per person.
SHIRRED EGGS
Eggs which are baked or broiled in shallow ramekins are called shirred eggs. The ramekins should be heated and a little butter melted in them before the eggs are put in the dish. Then the eggs arc baked in a moderate oven (350° F.) or grilled 4 inches from a medium broiler flame with a bit of butter on the yolks for 10 to 12 minutes. The eggs arc cooked when the whites are set.
Oeufs sur le Plat Américaine (Shirred Eggs à l'Américaine)
Garnish shirred eggs with a broiled Sausage link, a sautéed chicken liver, a strip of broiled bacon and a broiled tomato half.
Oeufs au Beurre Noir (Shirred Eggs in Black Butter)
Break 2 eggs into a shallow ramekin and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.). Take the eggs from the oven before the whiles are set and pour over them 1 tablespoon butter which has been seasoned with a dash of vinegar and cooked until dark brown. The hot butter will finish cooking the eggs. Garnish with ½ teaspoon capers.
Oeufs sur le Plat Optra (Shirred Eggs Opéra)
Garnish one side of a ramekin containing shirred eggs with sautéed chicken livers in Madeira sauce (see “The Last Touch”), the other side with cooked asparagus tips.
Oeufs sur le Plat Bibesco (Shirred Eggs Bihesco)
Arrange 3 thin slices of ox-tongue in a buttered ramekin. Break 2 eggs into the ramekin and bake in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the whites are set. Garnish each egg with a ring of Périgueux sauce.
Sauce Périgueux
Brown lightly 2 shallots, chopped, and ½ onion, thinly sliced, in 1 generous tablespoon goose fat, pork fat, or butter. In another saucepan heat ¾ cup white wine. Add 1 tablespoon brandy, which has been ignited and burned out, or use the same amount of Madeira.
Add 1 teaspoon flour to the shallots and onion and brown the roux lightly. Moisten with a little bouillon and add the wine. Cover and simmer on a very low fire, stirring often, for 20 minutes. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve, add 1 or more truffles, finely diced, and cook for 2 or 3 minutes.
Oeufs sur le Plat à la Reine (Sbirred Eggs à la Reine)
Garnish shirred eggs with small chicken croquettes. Garnish the eggs with a ring of béchamel sauce (see page 69).
Oeufs sur le Plat Estragon (Skirred Eggs Tarragon)
Garnish the yolks of shirred eggs with tarragon leaves which have been parboiled for 1 or 2 minutes and surround the eggs with a ribbon of tarragon-flavored chicken or veal gravy.
Oeufs sur le Plat Florentine (Shirred Eggs Florentine)
Place a layer of cooked, drained and buttered spinach leaves in a buttered ramekin, and sprinkle (he spinach with grated Parmesan cheese. Break 2 eggs over the spinach and bake them in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the whites are set. Garnish with sautéed mushrooms or with morels, if available, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Oeufs sur le Plat Nantua (Shirred Eggs Nantua)
Garnish 2 shirred eggs with 3 shrimp, diced and sautéed in butter. Finish with a ring of Nantua sauce and a slice of truffle for each yolk.
Sauce Nantua
Add ½ cup heavy cream to 1 cup béchamel sauce (see page 69) and rub through a fine sieve. Heat the sauce to the boiling point and stir in 1 tablespoon finely ground shrimp worked to a smooth paste with 1 tablespoon butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Oeufs sur le Plat Victoria (Shirred Eggs Victoria)
Garnish shirred eggs with lobster meat and truffles, cut in dice, and surround with a ring of Newberg sauce.
Newberg Sauce
Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, blend with 1 tablespoon flour, and gradually add 1 cup hot cream, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and smooth. Do not boil. Season with salt and cayenne to taste and pour it slowly over 2 well-beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly. Place the sauce over boiling water and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Flavor with 2 tablespoons dry sherry.
OMELETTES
There are three rules for preparing omelettes.
One, the omelette pan should be used exclusively for the making of omelettes. It should never be washed but should be cleaned after use with coarse salt and with paper towels. If other foods arc cooked in the omelette pan or if it is rinsed with water, the next omelette will stick to the pan.
Two, never make an omelette with more than five or six eggs. An omelette made with four eggs is easier to handle.
Three, never beat eggs for an omelette. Stir them only until the whites and yolks are combined. Too much bearing and stirring will result in an omelette that is heavy and watery.
Omelette Nature(Plain Omelette)
Mix 3 or 4 eggs lightly with a fork and add ½ teaspoon salt. Do not overbear. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an omelette pan and cook until it is light brown. Pour in the eggs and stir them briskly with a fork. Quickly, with the fork, pull the edges of the egg mass toward the center as it thickens. The liquid part will immediately fill the vacant spaces. Repeat this until all the liquid is used up but the eggs are still very soft. Gently press the handle of the pan downward and let the omelette slide toward it. When a third of the flat omelette has slid up the edge of the pan, fold this toward the center with the help of a spatula. Then raise the handle of the pan to slide the omelette in the opposite direction, and when that third is all the way up the edge farthest away from the handle, hold a heated oval dish under it. As the rim of the omelette touches the dish, raise the handle more and more until the pan is turned upside down. The result will be an oval-shaped, lightly browned omelette.
Omelette Florentine
Fill a cooked omelette with 3 tablespoons freshly cooked, well-drained spinach and fold it. Or fill the center of the omelette with 3 tablespoons creamed spinach purée.
Omelette aux Champignons(Mushroom Omelette)
Mix ½ cup chopped, sautéed mushrooms with the eggs before cooking the omelette.
Omelette à la Reine
Fill an omelette with 3 tablespoons creamed chicken and fold it. Surround the omelette with a ribbon of béchamel sauce (see page 69) and garnish it with parsley or water cress.
Omelette aux Tomates (Tomato Omelette)
Peel 3 ripe tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds, and chop the pulp rather coarsely. Cook the pulp in 3 tablespoons oil with 2 slices onion, finely chopped. Add salt and pepper to taste and 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley and use to fill a 4-egg omelette.
Omelette Paysanne(Omelette Peasant Style)
This is a flat omelette. Parboil 1/3 cup diced salt pork, bacon or ham, for a few minutes and drain. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in an omelette pan, add the meat and sauté it until it is brown. Remove the meat and reserve it. sauté ¾ cup potatoes, finely diced, in the same pan until they are cooked and golden brown. Return the meat to the pan. Add 6 lightly beaten eggs combined with 1 cup cooked sorrel, drained, 1 teaspoon each finely chopped parsley and chervil, and ½ teaspoon salt.
Stir the eggs with a fork, moving the pan about with a circular motion. When the omelette begins to set around the edges, lift it and add 1 tablespoon butter to the pan. When the first faint odor of browning is evident, turn the omelette as you would a pancake and brown lightly on the other side. Slide it onto a hot platter to serve.
SCRAMBLED EGGS
Eggs may be scrambled properly in one of two ways—over direct heat in a skillet or in the top of a double boiler. If they are scrambled over direct heat, the flame should be very low. The top of a double boiler is ideal for scrambling eggs because of the constant low temperature which it provides, assuring Smoothness and delicacy. Frequently eggs are scrambled over hot water in a chafing dish. They may be served plain or with bacon, sausages, mushrooms, asparagus tips or tomato sauce.
Oeufs Brouillés (Scrambled Eggs)
Break 6 eggs into a bowl and beat them until well mixed but not too fluffy. Melt and heat 1 ½ tablespoons butter in a skillet or in the top of a double boiler and add the eggs. Cook, stirring constantly, over low heat or over hot water and, when the eggs begin to set. add 1 tablespoon butter and 2 tablespoons cream. Correct the seasoning with salt.
Oeufs Brouillés Magda
(Scrambled Eggs Magda)
Garnish scrambled eggs with tomato sauce and sprinkle them with finely chopped parsley and grated Parmesan cheese.
Oeufs Brouillés Princesse (Scrambled Eggs Princesse)
Garnish scrambled eggs with asparagus lips and slices of truffle.
Oeufs Brouillés à la Reine (Scrambled Eggs à la Reine)
Fill a heated patty shell with a layer of scrambled eggs, a layer of creamed chicken, and a final layer of scrambled eggs. Garnish with a slice of truffle.
POACHED EGGS
Eggs to be poached must be very fresh. Vinegar may be used in the cooking water to give the eggs a rounder, more appetizing appearance. If necessary. eggs may be poached well in advance, trimmed and reheated briefly in salted lukewarm water at serving time. During the second heating they must not be allowed to cook or their texture will change.
Oeufs Pocbés (Poached Eggs)
Add 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt to 1 quart boiling water in a shallow pan. Break one egg at a time and slip it gently onto the surface of the water. Simmer the eggs over low heat 3 to 3 ½ minutes, or until the whites are firm. Using a perforated spoon, remove the eggs and trim them evenly.
Oeufs Pochés Béatrice (Poached Eggs Beatrice)
Place poached eggs on rounds of toast, cover them with Mornay sauce (see page 50) to which sliced cooked mushrooms have been added, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, and brown under the broiler. Garnish one round of toast with asparagus tips and the other with tomato sauce.
Oeufs Pochés Bénédictie (Poached Eggs Benedictine)
Place a slice of broiled ham on half a toasted English muffin. Put a poached egg on the ham and cover it with hollandaise sauce (see March, 1955). Garnish with a slice of truffle.
Oafs Pochés Bourguignonne (Poached Eggs in Red Wine)
In a shallow pan bring to a boil 2 cups dry red wine with 1 small bay leaf, 1 tablespoon chopped shallots, 2 sprigs parsley, 1 clove garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper. Poach the eggs in this liquid and. when the whites are set, transfer them to a basin of salted lukewarm water. Reduce the court-bouillon to one-third its Original quantity and, stirring vigorously, add gradually beurre manié composed of 1 tablespoon butter blended smoothly with 1 tablespoon flour. Correct the seasoning of the liquid with salt and add 2 tablespoons butter. Serve the eggs on rounds of toast with the sauce strained over them.
Oeufs Pochés Florentine (Poached Eggs Florentine)
Place a poached egg on a bed of cooked, drained and buttered spinach or purée of spinach. Cover it with Mornay sauce (see below), sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and glaze lightly under the broiler. Serve with toast points.
Oeufs Pochés Portugaise (Poached Eggs Portugaise)
Place poached eggs on rounds of toast. Cover with Portugaise sauce combined with an equal quantity of Mornay sauce.
Portugaise Sauce
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan, add 1 shallot, finely chopped, and ¼ cup red or white wine. Cook until reduced to 1/3 the original quantity. Add 2 tomatoes which have been peeled, seeded, and chopped and cook them until they are soft. Add ½ cup brown sauce, ½ cup tomato sauce, ½ teaspoon chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon salt. and a little pepper and bring to a boil.
Eggs en Cocotte
Brush a cocotte with melted butter, break an egg into it, and add 1 tablespoon sweet cream. Place the cocotte in a shallow pan of boiling water, cover it, and cook either on top of the stove or in a moderate oven (350° F.) for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the white is set. Garnish with asparagus tips, tomato, truffles, or sautéed chicken livers or break the eggs into a cocotte onto a bed of chicken hash, asparagus lips or tomato. The eggs may be coated with a light Mornay sauce, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese, and glazed under the broiler.
Mornay Sauce
Heat 2 cups béchamel sauce over a low flame, stirring constantly. When the boiling point is reached, add 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tablespoon grated Gruyère. Stir constantly with a small whisk until the sauce is smooth and thickened. Remove from the fire and finish with 2 tablespoons butter, added bit by bit.