The value of eggs in introducing a welcome novelty
and variety to the breakfast table is slowly being
recognised. Still, it must be confessed that eggs
boiled, poached, and scrambled appear to exhaust
the culinary knowledge (in this line) of the average
British cook and housewife. Yet there are literally
hundreds of ways of preparing tliese, would these
two ladies only bestow a little intelligent interest on
the subject. Unfortunately, in many cases it is even
doubtful if they have actually sounded the depths
of their own very elementary knowledge. We have
all heard, jjrobably not without inward qualms, of
the variety of eggs known to commerce, ranging
from the “breakfast egg” (the term, I believe,
appertaining to the undoubtedly new-laid egg of
country life) to the awful “ shop egg,” concerning
whose condition and destination it is best not to
inquire too closely. But do many of us realize that
different scages of eggdom are needed for different
purposes? For instance, though we probably all
know that the ideal “ boiled egg ” is one taken
c 2
20 BREAKS ASO" AND LUNCH DISHES.
straight from the nest to the egg-boiler in the
dining-room, whose white is, when cooked, a delicious
creamy mass ; how about the poached egg, which
needs to be fresh certainly, but still an egg of
yesterday, if the white is to set properly ? Perhaps
the following may be of interest to the young
housewife.
Eggs, Boiled. — Choose the freshest eggs possible,
and when the water boils hard, gently slip the eggs
in one by one with a spoon, being careful to let the
point of the spoon touch the bottom of the pan
before letting the egg go, as this prevents the latter
from falling, and so cracking. Keep the water
boiling hard all the time, three minutes for an egg
with a creamy white, or half a minute more if
to be set pretty firm ; in short, measuring the time
by the consumer’s taste. For hard-boiled eggs for
curry or salad, etc., allow ten to twelve minutes (not
longer, or the yolk will probably discolour), plunge
at once into cold water, and do not attempt to shell
till the heat is all out of them. If rolled on the
table with the hand they will shell the easier.
A. nice way of boiling eggs for invalids
is the following: Pour into a saucepan sufficient
boiling water to generously cover the number of eggs
you wish to cook, see that the water is actually at
boiling point, then slip in the eggs ; draw the pan to
the side of the stove where the water will keep its
heat without actually re-boiling, and let the pan and
the eggs stand, uncovered, for ten minutes or so.
Treated thus, they will be absolutely cooked without
the white hardening into indigestibility. Many
EGGS.
21
people wlio are in the ordinary way afraid of eggs
can eat them cooked thus.
This method has the further advantage that the
eggs can wait in the water for some little time with-
out spoiling, as long as the water is not allowed to
re-heat. By the bye, few people appear to know that
eggs either boiled or poached {oeufs mollets as the
French call them) can be re-heated admirably by
standing them for a minute or two in hot (but not
boiling) water, and can be used without detection ;
though once cooked and lifted from the fire, no
subsequent amount of cooking will harden them.
Page 10
Presented as published in 1904. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
The value of eggs in introducing a welcome novelty and variety to the breakfast table is slowly being recognised. Still, it must be confessed that eggs boiled, poached, and scrambled appear to exhaust the culinary knowledge (in this line) of the average British cook and housewife. Yet there are literally hundreds of ways of preparing these, would these two ladies only bestow a little intelligent interest on the subject. Unfortunately, in many cases it is even doubtful if they have actually sounded the depths of their own very elementary knowledge. We have all heard, probably not without inward qualms, of the variety of eggs known to commerce, ranging from the “breakfast egg” (the term, I believe, appertaining to the undoubtedly new-laid egg of country life) to the awful “ shop egg,” concerning whose condition and destination it is best not to inquire too closely. But do many of us realize that different stages of eggdom are needed for different purposes? For instance, though we probably all know that the ideal “ boiled egg ” is one taken
c 2
straight from the nest to the egg-boiler in the dining-room, whose white is, when cooked, a delicious creamy mass ; how about the poached egg, which needs to be fresh certainly, but still an egg of yesterday, if the white is to set properly ? Perhaps the following may be of interest to the young housewife.
Eggs, Boiled. — Choose the freshest eggs possible, and when the water boils hard, gently slip the eggs in one by one with a spoon, being careful to let the point of the spoon touch the bottom of the pan before letting the egg go, as this prevents the latter from falling, and so cracking. Keep the water boiling hard all the time, three minutes for an egg with a creamy white, or half a minute more if to be set pretty firm ; in short, measuring the time by the consumer’s taste. For hard-boiled eggs for curry or salad, etc., allow ten to twelve minutes (not longer, or the yolk will probably discolour), plunge at once into cold water, and do not attempt to shell till the heat is all out of them. If rolled on the table with the hand they will shell the easier.
A. nice way of boiling eggs for invalids
is the following: Pour into a saucepan sufficient boiling water to generously cover the number of eggs you wish to cook, see that the water is actually at boiling point, then slip in the eggs ; draw the pan to the side of the stove where the water will keep its heat without actually re-boiling, and let the pan and the eggs stand, uncovered, for ten minutes or so. Treated thus, they will be absolutely cooked without the white hardening into indigestibility. Many
people wlio are in the ordinary way afraid of eggs can eat them cooked thus.
This method has the further advantage that the eggs can wait in the water for some little time without spoiling, as long as the water is not allowed to re-heat. By the bye, few people appear to know that eggs either boiled or poached {oeufs mollets as the French call them) can be re-heated admirably by standing them for a minute or two in hot (but not boiling) water, and can be used without detection ; though once cooked and lifted from the fire, no subsequent amount of cooking will harden them.