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Cooking of True Proteids Continued: Eggs
Like woman, when an egg is good, there is nothing better; when it is bad, there is nothing worse, -- Adolphe Meyer, M.C.A.
NINE times out of ten, deservedly or undeservedly, the market man must bear the odium when the meat is tough; for the young housekeeper is often not sufficiently posted in buying or cooking meats to lay the blame with certainty where it belongs. In the spring, however, meat is largely displaced by eggs, which are then fresh laid and plentiful. Fresh eggs are never disappointing, be they properly cooked; for, treated aright, they cannot be tough. Think of the wealth of variety in flavor, texture, and appearance that can be evolved in food by the use of eggs. They can be so treated as to give to a dish smooth solidity or an airy lightness and sponginess such as a breath will mar. They harmonize with savory no less than with sweet dishes, and may alike enrich and give character to a soup, a salad, or an ice. Verily, a certain famous chef was right, when he said that "without the aid of eggs the artistic cook would have to abandon his profession in despair."
But the use of eggs is by no means restricted to enriching or embellishing other dishes: their composition warrants service as the dish of the meal, bulk and dilution being provided in less nutritious articles. Given fresh eggs, it matters not in what form they be presented, as piece de resistance or garnish, and they will bear the hall mark of the cook. Properly cooked, eggs are never tough. Cooked in the shell and at a proper temperature, an egg, though firm enough to slice evenly, is a delicate morsel. Eggs, thus cooked, with crisp lettuce and well-seasoned mayonnaise, are, though frequently served, an everrecurring pleasure to the palate. But how few of us know egg-salad at its best! Too often the white of the egg is a shiny elastic substance, elusive of the fork that would divide it. Eggs and boiling water should not form a continued partnership; for the result is always deplorable. On the breakfast table, in early spring, what can be more dainty or conducive to appetite than a fresh egg, carefully poached, and set above a round of bread, upon which each wire of the toaster is clearly marked on the brown of the otherwise evenly toasted surface. We are thinking of perfect home-made bread and an egg tender, though firm, with its golden heart dimly seen through a thin, filmy, veil-like covering. Give a finishing touch to the dish with a sprig of fresh, green parsley or cress from the near-by brook, just released from the winter's bondage, and the picture is complete, -- a symphony in color.
Though poached eggs may be varied, by the use of salpicon mixtures, purees of meat, fish, or vegetables, or by sauces, these would become monotonous in time. Lest this happen, let us learn how to make really good omelets. Much has been said in prose and verse in praise of omelets, and many a romantic incident is centred around the making of them. We refer, however, not to the light, puffy omelets, such as anybody can evolve, but to those subtle, tender, French creations, which monks and chefs of "ye olden time" were wont to concoct for the delectation of themselves or their fortunate patrons. These knights of the blue ribbon (for the term cordon bleu was not restricted to women) with dextrous hand are reputed to have flipped the tender omelet into perfect shape, and then to have tossed it onto the oval dish heated to receive it. The modern cook, unable to acquire the knack of sliding and tilting the pan to cook the egg evenly and delicately, picks up the cooked portion with a fork, thus letting the uncooked part touch the surface of the hot pan. It was probably in some such crude way as this that the Empress Maria Louise was manipulating the omelet when Napoleon, taking the omelet pan from her hand, and in vain attempt to imitate the deftness of the great Careme, flipped the omelet onto the floor. Chagrined at his failure, he is said to have retired, leaving the empress to complete the cooking in her own way. In making the genuine French omelet, whole eggs may be used; but a preponderance of yolks is preferable. Long beating is neither essential nor desirable: yolks and whites are to be simply well broken up and mixed. In cooking, great heat is serviceable; but the skill of the cook must be exercised to the end that the egg be subjected to it only for an instant. Salpicon mixtures (cooked articles in bits, and mixed with a sauce) may be folded between or spread around an omelet, thus adding to its volume and character.
Omelet pans are made of various metals; but, all things considered, a thin steel pan is the best. Sheet iron is often used; but, as it soon warps from heat and does not then set level upon the stove, a new one is often in requisition. An agate pan, kept specially for the purpose, ranks next to steel.
Nor does egg-cookery end with poached eggs and omelets. Custards and souffles, sponge cake and eclairs, as also the cup of coffee or consomme, and the thin-crusted croquette, are, one and all, good or bad according as to whether we have mastered the one great point in egg-cookery -- temperature. Let us then make a careful study of this chapter, remembering that it is in just such little things as the cooking of eggs and the toasting of bread that our skill in cookery is shown.
COMPOSITION OF EGGS The egg is another article of food that contains a goodly proportion of proteid, which is principally in the form of albumin. The white of the egg contains a higher proportion of albumin than does the yolk, while the yolk contains more fat than does the white. The other compounds are water and mineral matter. Three-fourths of an egg is water. The one food principle lacking is carbohydrate; thus foods rich in this principle -- bread, potatoes, rice, etc. -- are the ones to be combined with eggs to make a meal complete. The shell of the egg is porous; on keeping, the water of the egg in composition evaporates, air enters to occupy the vacant place, and the egg soon (comparatively) spoils.
HOW TO TELL THE AGE OF AN EGG Placed in the water, the egg, if fresh, will remain resting at the bottom of the vessel; if not quite fresh, it will rest with the big end raised higher than the small end, and the higher the big end is raised the older is the egg. The reason why: As an old egg gets older, the water contained in the white of the contained in the white of the egg evaporates, and this causes the empty space at the thick end of every egg to become enlarged. The larger that empty space becomes the more the egg rises in the water, till in course of time it floats(G.J. Hutchins in "Food and Cookery," London) HOW TO BREAK EGGS IN COOKING To break an egg, take it in the right hand and crack the shell by striking it, -- near the centre of one side, -- upon the edge of a bowl; put the thumbs together at the crack, and gently break the shell apart. Take care to strike the egg only just enough to crack the shell. The shell of an egg, held in the left hand, may be broken by striking it sharply with a knife held in the right hand.
HOW TO SEPARATE THE YOLK FROM THE WHITE Hold the egg lengthwise in the hand, over a bowl, while breaking the shell apart; turn the contents back and forth several times, keeping the yolk in one of the half shells, and letting the white slip over the edge into the bowl. HOW TO STIR, BEAT, AND FOLD INGREDIENTS If we put one or more articles, as flour, flour and egg, or flour, milk and egg into a bowl and move a utensil, like a spoon or fork, steadily round and round in the mass, each time in a widening circle, we call the process Stirring.
When we carry the utensil swiftly through a mass containing albumin or gluten in such a manner that a large portion is turned over at each stroke, a quantity of air, in minute bubbles, is entangled in the elastic proteid, thus making the mass very light. We call this process Beating. After an egg, and particularly the white of an egg, is beaten, we may wish to incorporate it into other ingredients without loss of the air that has been beaten into it. To do this, turn the egg into the dish of ingredients, put in a spoon edgewise, turn it and lift up the ingredients and egg, and turn them over; repeat this until the mass is evenly blended together. We call this Folding. The principal articles that we wish to fold into others are the whites of eggs, beaten dry, and heavy cream, beaten solid. BEATING EGGS Whites of eggs alone may be beaten more firm than whites and yolks together, or yolks alone. Often if a small portion of yolk be left in a bowl containing several whites, it will be impossible to beat the mass to a firm consistency. Whites of eggs cannot be beaten dry unless the bowl and beater be perfectly dry and clean.