Elegant Eggs
There’s more to eggs than scrambled breakfast. Poached, fried or soft-boiled, premium eggs are getting serious culinary treatment at some of the finest restaurants these days. They’re cracked atop wood-fired pizzas, tossed into pasta, and some are even taking a solo turn as an amuse bouche on some tasting menus.
At Woodside, Calif.’s Village Pub, for example, executive chef Dmitry Elperin’s signature glistening poached egg isn’t accompanied by bacon or home fries. Rather, it’s perched atop house-made spaghettini and served with sauteed artichokes, shaved bottarga and a vegetable nage — a flavorful French stock — for dinner.
“Eggs are the most simple form of elegance,” says Elperin, who loves serving poached eggs with crispy sweet breads and chicory. “We relate them to caviar. And to our childhoods. They’re rich, neutral and simply a great vehicle for transporting flavor.”
At Oakland, Calif.’s Marzano and its sister restaurant, Hudson, eggs are cooked to perfection atop artisanal pizzas in wood-fired ovens. Two-year-old Marzano offers nine delicate, blistered, Neapolitan pizzas, including a garlicky meatball marinara, all with the option of an added egg for $2. And on Hudson’s opening night Jan. 18, executive chef Robert Holt was cracking eggs onto pizzas topped with wild nettles and fresh goat cheese, or spicy pork sausage with braised Tuscan kale.
“Egg on a pizza is just like breakfast, but you’re eating it for dinner,” says Holt. “People just love that savory flavor and texture.”
Philippe Chevalier, the French-born and trained chef of Lafayette, Calif.’s Chevalier Restaurant, says a few drops of vinegar are a must when poaching an egg in water, chicken stock or red wine. It helps the whites “fix” and gather around the yolk. Also, once the water is boiling, Chevalier advises reducing the heat to medium-high before cracking the egg in the bath.
Cook it for two to three minutes before removing it gently with a slotted spoon. Finally, put the egg in ice water immediately to keep it from cooking more.
