Consider the egg: A compact, portable package full of protein and other nutrients, a treasure enjoyed by humans since the first human walked the earth. It’s really not surprising that such an ancient and valuable food source has also become a symbol of life. In fact, many ancient peoples believed the egg represented the creation of the world. As such, eggs feature significantly in various origin myths.
Egg-laying jungle fowl (the ancestors of chickens) were first domesticated in Southeast Asia in prehistoric times. Eggs were eaten in Ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Medieval peasants raised chickens and enjoyed whatever eggs were not owed in rent. Early American Colonists brought chickens to North America. (Native people had been eating wild bird eggs for millenia.)
One of the simplest ways to eat eggs is to boil them, but as with any food so popular and economical, fancier ways have been developed. The recipe for today is eggs á la creme, a tasty and elegant dish involving hard boiled eggs and a cream sauce. The recipe comes from Mary Randolph’s The Virginia Housewife Or, Methodical Cook (p.87).
EGGS A-LA-CREME
Boil 12 eggs just hard enough to allow you to cut them in slices–cut some crusts of bread very thin, put them in the bottom and round the sides of a moderately deep dish, place the eggs in strewing each layer with the stale bread grated, and some pepper and salt
SAUCE A-LA-CREME FOR THE EGGS
Put a quarter pound of butter with a large tablespoon of flour rubbed well into it in a saucepan; add some chopped parsley, a little onion, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and gill of cream; stir it over the fire until it begins to boil, then pour it over the eggs, cover the top with grated bread, set it in a Dutch oven with a heated top, and when light brown, send it to table
A few notes:
- This recipe is fairly straight-forward, with few unfamiliar words. A gill equals approximately ¼ cup.
- A oven broiler substitutes very well for a Dutch oven with a heated lid.
- Toasting the bread before putting it in the dish helps keep the bread from getting soggy.
Modern version: A Tasty Dish of Eggs
- ¼ c. butter
- 1 T. flour
- ¼ t. Salt
- ¼ t. Nutmeg
- ¼ t. Pepper
- 1-2 T. onion (chopped fine)
- 1 T. parsley (chopped fine)
- ½ c. (1 gill) cream
- 4 hard-boiled eggs
- 4 toast slices
- ¼ c. bread crumbs
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add the cream. Bring to a boil and stir until thickened. (Add a little more cream or milk if the sauce gets too thick.) Remove from heat. Peel and slice your hardboiled eggs. Lay the unbuttered toast slices in a dish. Lay the sliced eggs on top. Spoon the cream sauce over the eggs. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on top. Place under a broiler for a few minutes, just until the crumbs are toasted.
This makes a very tasty dish for lunch or supper. You might even enjoy it as a change of pace for breakfast. It is very similar to Eggs Benedict, though the sauce is thicker.
BRIC-A-BRAC 