An egg and a French legend….

Let’s see, this is to be my first post participating in the Let’s Lunch phenomenon and in classic Viv fashion, it is late. Ah well, if it ain’t broke…

My inclusion in this elite group began in Paris (yes, any excuse to mention my favourite city). True though. There I was, hanging out with the fabulous Ms. Tan of A Tiger in the Kitchen fame and she mentioned that I might like to get involved. “You just need to make something in the monthly theme, then post with the Let’s Lunch tag.” Moi? An excuse to cook? A kick in the backside to write and post? To virtually meet a whole bunch of cool folks? How could I say no?

Of course this is probably the worst week for me to do this. I’ve been working on a cookbook project for the last couple of weeks, prepping and styling food for the photo shoots. This means all day on my feet, then ingredient shopping the rest of the time. Any free time (ha!) is for the kids. So this will be a hasty, though heartfelt, post written whilst hubby has taken the munchkins downstairs for a runaround, bless him.

Ok enough blabber, down to business: eggs. I love them in all ways, I think they’re one of the most perfect foods and super versatile. But they are also written to death about so what can I bring to the party? Well, Alain Passard came to my rescue. Yes him, of L’Arpège fame. The chef who notoriously announced his focus on vegetables in his Michelin 3-star restaurant. He was the guest of honour at a new food festival in Singapore, Savour. I went along to see what it was all about. I’ll post more about that experience later, but I did watch Passard’s demo during which he showed his famous egg chaud froid. Bingo! And my egg idea was hatched, so to speak.

Here it is in images:

Steps 1-3

I had just acquired an egg decapitator in Paris, it was as if the gods of eggs had smiled upon me and said, “Yes, you WILL make egg chaud froid, we decree it so!” . Anyway, a perfect opportunity to try it out and folks, though I generally shy away from single use gadgets, I am hooked. This one works like a charm, was not expensive and doesn’t take up much room. Okay, sales pitch over.

The key is to gently remove the shell “cap”, pour out the white without breaking the yolk.

Next:

Steps 4 & 5

The shell with yolk must then be placed in barely simmering water, at 70 degrees Celsius. No thermometer? No problem, you just want to see little bubbles on the bottom of your pan, no more. The tiny bit of egg white remaining in the shell will just start to set if you look carefully around the edges of the yolk…

Finally we come to the “froid” part of the equation. Passard’s recipe calls for lightly whipped cream seasoned with quatre épices, sherry vinegar, sea salt and a drizzle of maple syrup at the end. I took his last item as is, but I happened to have a big container of jamón infused cream (don’t ask, long story) so I used that, a few drops of white wine vinegar and smoked sea salt. I have to say both me and the Taster were very happy with my rendition. No exact quantities folks, tiny amounts of everything. The key point is that there should be equal parts yolk and cold cream when you eat it and you should dig all the way to the bottom to get every flavour on your spoon. Try your own version (cher Alain suggested curry powder and other vinegars, up to you)… bon appétit!

A few  more pics:

My jamón cream, organic maple syrup and the finished product (would add some chives next time)!

P.S. Bear with me friends, this is a VERY new site, still working out a lot of kinks and trying to do everything myself (I know, el cheapo) so will keep tweaking… thanks!

I almost forgot! My fellow Let’s Lunchers have put up some fab posts so please do check them out:

– Ana‘s Breakfast Pizza at In Foodie Fashion

– Charissa‘s Gluten-Free Leek, Ham & Pecorino Souffles at Zest Bakery

–  Cheryl’s Chai Poh Scramble:  Easter, Singapore Style from A Tiger in In the Kitchen

– Denise‘s Beet Dye & Pink Deviled Eggs at Chez Us

– Eleanor‘s Wok Your Easter Egg Any Way You Want at Wok Star

– Emma‘s Eggs In A Hole at Dreaming of Pots & Pans

– Felicia‘s Perfect Sandwich at Burnt-Out Baker

– Grace‘s Scrambled Eggs & Tomatoes at HapaMama

– Joe‘s Kim-Chi Deviled Eggs at Joe Yonan

– Karen‘s Molecular Gastronomy “Eggs” at GeoFooding

– Linda‘s Home-made Cadbury Eggs (Maple Chocolate Eggs) at Free Range Cookies

– Linda‘s Taiwanese Tomato Eggs at Spicebox Travels

– Lisa‘s Legendary Egg & Onion at Monday Morning Cooking Club

– Lucy‘s Old-Fashioned Boiled Dressing (& Chicken Salad) at A Cook And Her Books

– Nancie‘s Son-In-Law Eggs at Nancie McDermott

– Rashda‘s Bombay Toasts (Spicy French Toasts) at Hot Curries And Cold Beer

– Rebecca‘s Mini Meringue Buttons at Grongar Blog