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Eggs and Artichokes
Boil in water twelve artichoke bottoms for half an hour and hard boil half the quantity of eggs. Cut as many rounds of bread as there are artichoke bottoms, making them about one inch larger in diameter; put a lump of butter in a flat stewpan and, when boiling, put in the rounds of bread and fry until well browned. When cooked drain the artichoke bottoms, peel and cut the hard-boiled eggs into halves, place an artichoke bottom on each round of bread and then half an egg, the cut side downward. Spread a folded napkin or an ornamental dish-paper over a hot dish, arrange the toast and eggs tastefully upon it, garnish with fried parsley, and serve with a sauceboatful of rich gravy.
A composed egg dish of the sort that filled the middle of a Waldorf luncheon menu. Nothing here is difficult, but the components need to be timed so the bread is still crisp when it reaches the table.
- Artichoke bottomsThese are the trimmed, choke-free bases of large globe artichokes, not the tender hearts sold in oil. Fresh ones want the half hour given; jarred or frozen bottoms are already cooked and need only warming through in salted water for a few minutes.
- Keeping them paleCut artichoke bottoms brown fast. Rub them with lemon as you trim and boil them in water acidulated with lemon juice, or in a classic blanc of water, flour and lemon, which keeps them ivory rather than grey.
- QuantitiesTwelve bottoms and "half the quantity of eggs" means six eggs, halved to give twelve pieces. That serves six generously as a first course, or four as a light main.
- Frying the croutesCut the rounds from a firm close-crumbed loaf. Butter alone browns and burns quickly at the heat needed; clarified butter, or butter with a spoonful of neutral oil, gives an even gold without black flecks.
- The eggsTen to eleven minutes from a simmer gives a set but not chalky yolk. Cool them in cold water before peeling, and place the halves cut side down as directed so the yolk stays hidden and the dome sits neatly on the artichoke.
- Fried parsleyParsley must be bone dry before it goes into hot fat or it will spit violently. A few seconds at around 350F is enough; it should stay green and turn brittle, not brown.
- "Rich gravy"In a kitchen of this type the phrase most likely points to a reduced brown sauce rather than a floury pan gravy, though the recipe does not say. A well-reduced veal or beef stock mounted with butter is the closest modern equivalent; Hollandaise would also work if you want something lighter.
- The napkinThe folded napkin or lace dish-paper served to absorb fat from fried items and to dress the dish. A warmed plate lined with a paper doily, or nothing at all, does the same job.
Artichoke bottoms were a staple of the grand hotel kitchen, valued because they hold their shape, sit flat, and make a natural cup or pedestal for eggs, purées and salpicons. Oscar Tschirky ran the Waldorf's dining rooms from 1893, and his 1896 Cook Book reflects the French-derived repertoire that American hotels of the period were expected to produce: dishes built up on a fried croute, arranged on a napkin, and sent out with a sauceboat alongside. A dish of this kind would more often have appeared on a luncheon or supper card than at dinner.