Egg Cookery

Egg cookery could easily fill a book by itself, but with eggs as variable as they are now and with our knowledge as limited as it is, vie do not dare go too far on this pleasant subject. The menus and recipes in this book are fairly abstemious in regard to eggs, but eat more if your blood cholesterol justifies it. In any case we hope you will make up in quality for any shortage in quantity. In other words, make sure the eggs are used so as to provide the maximum of satisfaction. For soft-boiled, poached, or scrambled eggs be scrupulous in timing and try adding a few grains of cayenne, peperone rosso (crushed red peppers, Italian style), or a dash of Tabasco sauce. Paprika adds something like this same zest on a quieter level. Fry your egg in one of the recommended oils but if you are partial to the flavour of bacon, a third of a slice is enough for frying.

Of course one egg per person is skimpy for a plain omelette but with crab, shrimp, lobster, artichoke hearts, asparagus, or mushrooms, or as "Frittata alla Genovese" or one of the Spanish specialities (see Recipes), it is enough. Be sure you have a proper pan, heavy and preserved from washing. With a new pan, or one that has been washed, boil in it a tablespoonful of oil for 15 minutes and wipe thoroughly with paper towels. After use, do not wash but simply wipe out carefully and hang it up. Use this pan only for omelettes and similar frying so as to keep it always ready and free from the persistent flavours of onion, garlic, and the like.

The omelette will stick in a washed pan unless you use so much fat in cooking that you have a greasy mess.

To make a good omelette have the eggs well beaten but not frothy and the pan so hot that the oil smokes at once when you put it in. Follow this immediately by the eggs, vigorously shaking the pan and stirring and lifting the eggs for a minute or two until the omelette is ready to be folded and served. Small amounts of shredded crab, chopped artichoke hearts, etc., are added to the beaten eggs before going into the pan. To incorporate larger amounts of such accompaniments, have them prepared hot in a second pan and place on the omelette just before folding. A two-egg omelette can wrap around and support enough crab and the like to make a good main course for two persons. Add a soup to start with, a salad to follow, good French or Italian (low fat) bread, some wine, and all you lack for a first-class meal is a bowl of fruit. Even with a three-egg omelette and two tablespoonfuls of oil and vinegar dressing on the salad (for two), the total fat in the meal will not be much over 20 grammes and the composition of that fat should be entirely acceptable.

Next to omelette we must mention the soufflé as a superlative way to make a very few eggs provide the centre of a meal. One and a half eggs per person will do (see Recipes). The "eat well and stay well" diet requires discretion but no unhappy deprivation in the use of eggs. If you may not have eggs unlimited, we hope you will be stimulated to provide eggs unsurpassed.