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Ham and Eggs, Savoury
Take three eggs, separate the whites from the yolks, putting them into different basins. Beat the yolks, add half a gill of milk, a pinch of pepper and mustard, parsley, and sweet herbs, and mix this with three ounces of minced cooked ham; pour into a buttered pie-dish. Whisk the whites to a stiff froth, mix carefully with one ounce of minced cooked ham, and put it in a heap on top of the mixture in the pie-dish. Sprinkle with a little pepper, and bake in a moderate oven until a golden brown.
A late-Victorian baked egg dish that behaves like a rough soufflé: a savoury custard below, a meringue of whipped whites and ham above. Nothing here is difficult, but the original omits both timing and quantity of dish, and the whites will not wait.
- Work fast once the whites are upThe beaten whites start collapsing the moment ham is folded through them. Have the yolk mixture already in its buttered dish and the oven at temperature before you pick up the whisk, then heap and bake immediately.
- Half a gillAn imperial gill is 5 fl oz, so half a gill is 2 1/2 fl oz — a scant 1/3 cup. The American gill was reckoned at 4 fl oz, which would give 1/4 cup; either works, the smaller quantity simply sets firmer.
- A moderate oven350F/175C. At 3 eggs in a small dish, expect 15 to 20 minutes: the topping should be golden and the custard just set with no liquid wobble at the centre.
- MustardThis means dry English mustard powder, a pinch of it, not prepared jarred mustard. Prepared mustard adds vinegar and water and will slacken the custard.
- Sweet herbsVictorian lists vary, but thyme and marjoram, sometimes with savory, are the usual constituents, commonly dried and rubbed fine. A quarter teaspoon in total is plenty for this quantity.
- Pie-dishA shallow oval earthenware dish, roughly 6 to 7 inches across for this quantity. Anything deeper and the custard sets slowly while the whites over-brown; a small gratin dish is the closest modern equivalent.
- The hamCooked ham, minced fine; trimmings from a boiled or baked joint would suit it well, which may be why cooked ham is specified. Modern wet-cured sliced ham can be saltier, so taste before adding any salt beyond the pepper and mustard called for.
- YieldServes two as a light supper or breakfast dish, or four as a small savoury course. It must go to the table straight from the oven; the topping sinks within minutes.
The British dinner of this period could close with a savoury — a small hot, sharply seasoned dish served after the sweet and before dessert proper, and often said to set up the palate for the last of the wine. Ham, anchovy, cheese and egg carried much of that repertoire, though a dish like this would have served equally for breakfast or a light supper. The separated-egg method, with whipped whites heaped on top rather than folded through, gives something of the effect of a soufflé without a soufflé dish — a domestic shortcut: it rises and browns handsomely without a béchamel base or the nerve required to carry a real soufflé to the table.