Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (30 page)

I once knew an innkeeper’s son, a big, strapping young dolt who had ruined his health through bad living. He went to see a doctor who prescribed drinking two raw eggs each morning. Given the fact, at once happy and unhappy, that there was a large chicken coop at the inn, he would go there and drink the eggs as soon as the hens laid them. But as it happened, after a few days of this regime, the dunce began to think, “if two eggs are beneficial, four would be better,” and
so down went four eggs. Then: “if four are good, six would be better,” and so he drank six every morning. Finally he increased his consumption to twelve or fourteen a day; then he started to choke, and fierce gastralgia kept him in bed I do not how long until he hatched all the eggs he had drunk.

Soft-boiled eggs should be boiled for two minutes; hard-boiled eggs for ten. Start counting from the moment you immerse them in boiling water. If you prefer them lightly boiled, six or seven minutes should be long enough. In either case, as soon as you remove the eggs from the boiling water, put them in cold water.

Crack the eggs when the water boils, and drop them in from a very short distance. When the white coagulates and the yolk stops quivering, remove them with a slotted spoon and flavor with salt, pepper, cheese and butter. If you prefer a sauce, you can use tomato sauce, the green sauce described in recipe 119, the sauce in recipe 127, or you can make a sauce by dissolving an anchovy in hot butter and adding coarsely chopped capers drained of brine—but this is not for every stomach.

I have seen eggs served on a bed of mashed potatoes, one finger high, and also over spinach reheated in butter.

This is a dish to be had when nothing else is available, or to be served as an appetizer for lunch. These quantities serve three people:

4 eggs

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter

1 deciliters (about 1/2 a cup) of cream

Heat the butter, and when it starts to sizzle, add the whisked eggs. Season with salt and pepper, and, stirring constantly, add the cream a little at a time. When the mixture firms up, cover with it three slices of toast, each about one finger thick and with the crust removed, which you have buttered while still hot and placed on a platter.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and send to the table.

How repugnant it is for me to call dishes such stupid and often ridiculous names! But in order to make myself understood, I have to follow common practice.

This is a dish that can be served as an appetizer for lunch. If you follow this recipe to the letter, it should be enough for five people. Cut five square slices of crustless bread, each one about as wide as the palm of your hand and one finger thick. Carve a hole in the middle of each, but not all the way through. Fry in butter and arrange on a fireproof platter. In each depression put the whole yolk of a raw egg. Then prepare a bechamel with just under 3 deciliters (about 1-1/4 cups) of milk, 40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of flour and 40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter. After removing the bechamel from the fire, add to it three spoonfuls of grated Parmesan, a dash of cinnamon or of nutmeg, and salt. Allow to cool, then pour onto the platter, covering both the egg yolks and the toast slices. Brown for a while under the hood of the Dutch oven, making sure the eggs do not get too hard. Send hot to the table. Where English, mold-baked bread can be found, this is the best kind for these canapés.

After you have hard-boiled the eggs as described in recipe 139, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the yolks. Take one anchovy for every two eggs, wash, remove the spine, and mince with a little parsley and very little onion. Combine with the yolks, adding as much butter as you need to make a smooth paste, blending everything together with the blade of a knife. Fill the empty space left by the egg yolks with this paste; arrange the half-eggs in neat rows on a platter and cover with the mayonnaise described in recipe 126.

These eggs may also eaten seasoned simply with salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar, a solution not to be scoffed at, and which will not aggrieve your stomach.

As a first course for lunch, these will feed five people:

6 eggs

30 grams (about 1 ounce) of butter

20 grams (about 2/3 of an ounce) of crustless bread

2 heaping spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

a pinch of dried mushrooms

some parsley leaves

salt, to taste

Hard boil the eggs, slice lengthwise, remove the yolks and set them aside.

Soak the bread well in milk and then wring dry.

Reconstitute the mushroom in lukewarm water.

Grind everything as fine as possible and then fill the empty egg whites to overflowing. Then arrange the 12 half-eggs on the convex side of a platter, on a bed of mashed potatoes as described in recipe 443, but for this recipe use 350 grams (about 12-1/3 ounces) of potatoes (weighed before cooking). Instead of potatoes, you may also place the eggs on a bed of spinach, peas or other vegetables. Before sending to the table, reheat the dish by placing it under the lid of a Dutch oven with fire above.

Is there anyone who does not know how to make an omelette? Is there anyone in this world who has not in his life made some sort of omelette? All the same, it will not be a complete waste of time to say a few words on the subject.

It is not a good idea to beat the eggs excessively when making an omelette. Whirl them around in a soup bowl with a fork, and when you see the whites breaking up and blending with the yolks, stop. There are two kinds of omelettes: simple, egg-only omelettes and those made with some additional ingredient. A simple omelette is one made “paper-thin,” Florentine style, the sort one man is said to have rolled onto his fork all at once and swallowed in a single mouthful, after which he asked for a whole ream. Nonetheless the Florentine omelette turns out very tasty when prepared in excellent Tuscan olive oil also because it is cooked on one side only, which custom is preferable for almost all omelettes. When the underside has firmed up, flip the skillet over a platter which you are holding in your hand, and send to the table.

All manner of vegetables, simply boiled or cooked in butter, may be used in omelettes, and one may add as well a pinch of grated Parmesan cheese, by itself or with parsley. Onions also go well in omelettes, but they make them harder to digest. Two of the most refined ingredients for omelettes, in my opinion, are asparagus and zucchini. If you are going to use asparagus, boil and then saute the green portion in butter, mixing a pinch of Parmesan into the eggs. If you are using zucchini, buy the small long ones and cut them into round slices. Salt them, and after they have lost their water, sprinkle flour on top and sauté in lard or olive oil. Wait until they have browned before adding the eggs. Peas as well, prepared as described in recipe 427, when combined with the eggs, make a first-class omelette.

Sweet omelettes can also be prepared. Spread fruit preserves of any type on top of the eggs when the omelette is done. Sweet omelettes might be all right, but I do not like the idea of them, and I must say that when I see them as the only dessert offered at a restaurant, I begin to get a bad idea about the place.

This omelette deserves special mention because it requires a rather unique method of preparation.

Take some thin untrimmed slices of prosciutto, cut into pieces as wide as a 10-ccntesimo coin,
³⁰
and place in a skillet with butter. When they have sauteed a short while, add the eggs, with a very small pinch of salt. When the omelette starts to firm up, fold in half. The appearance it thus assumes explains why this type of omelette is more properly called the “egg fish.” Then add more butter and cook until done.

Use preferably large white onions, sliced into half rings half a finger in width. Soak in cold water for at least an hour. Then dry well in a clean kitchen towel, and place in a skillet with lard or olive oil. When the onions begin to brown, salt them, and also salt the eggs before pouring them over the onion. Make sure that the onions do not turn too dark from overcooking.

Remove the spinach from the water and cook it dripping wet. As soon as you take it off the fire, put it back in cold water. Then squeeze dry, mince coarsely, put into a skillet with a pat of butter, seasoning with salt and pepper. Turn frequently, and when the spinach has absorbed the butter, add the whisked eggs and some salt. When one side has browned, flip over, using a plate and put back in the skillet with some more butter. You may add a pinch of grated Parmesan cheese to the eggs, if desired.

The ideal quantities for this recipe seem to me these:

200 grams (about 7 ounces) of raw spinach

40 grams (about 1-1/3 ounces) of butter in all

4 eggs

Boil the green beans in salted water and cut each into two or three pieces. Then saute in a skillet with butter and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Beat the eggs with a pinch of Parmesan and salt, and pour over the beans when you see they have shriveled.

To ensure that this omelette prepared with cauliflower, one of the most insipid vegetables, will turn out tasty, I will give you the precise amounts:

300 grams (about 10-1/2 ounces) of boiled cauliflower, stripped of leaves and stem1

60 grams (about 2 ounces) of butter

2 heaping spoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon of olive oil

6 eggs

Finely mince the cauliflower and place in a skillet along with the butter and the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. When the cauliflower has absorbed the condiments, pour in the eggs which you have beaten with the Parmesan cheese and salted. Keep the omelette thin, so that you do not have to flip it. If your skillet is small, make two omelettes.

Boil a bunch of spinach and pass through a sieve. Whisk two eggs, season with salt and pepper, and mix in just enough of the spinach to turn the mixture green. Put the skillet on the fire with a droplet of olive oil, just enough to grease it. When it is nice and hot, pour in a small portion of the eggs, tip the skillet in all directions so that the egg uniformly coats the bottom and the omelette turns out paper thin. Remove from the fire when it is firm and dry, flipping it if necessary. Repeat the operation with the rest of the eggs, two or three times as needed. Roll the two or three omelettes together, and then slice the roll thin to obtain thin strips that resemble taglierini needles. Sauté lightly in butter and flavor with Parmesan cheese. Then serve as a side dish for a
fricandeau
or other similar dish. In addition to looking very attractive, this side dish, which also turns out well without the spinach, is sure to make at least one of your table companions rack his brains to find out what it is made of.

Take a kidney of a milk-fed calf, and cut it open lengthwise without removing any of the fat. Season with olive oil, salt and pepper, grill it and then cut into thin diagonal slices. Whisk eggs in proportion to the kidney, season again with salt and pepper, adding a sprig of minced parsley and a little Parmesan cheese. Add the kidney to the eggs, mix well, and with these ingredients prepare an omelette cooked in butter. When the bottom has browned, fold the omelette in half so that it remains tender.