Eggs, Molet

This is œufs mollets — the French egg boiled between soft and hard, so the white is fully set but the yolk still runny at the centre. Everything depends on the timing and on getting the shells off intact.

• Timing for modern eggsFive minutes suits a small to medium egg dropped into water already at a rolling boil. A large US or UK egg straight from the refrigerator wants closer to six minutes for a firm white with a soft centre; six and a half gives a jammy yolk.
• The half minute is not enoughThirty seconds in cold water only loosens the shell; it does not stop the cooking. Since the recipe goes straight on to shelling and serving, the eggs are presumably meant to go out warm, so shell and plate them immediately. If you want them to hold, use an ice bath for two or three minutes instead and accept that they will be served tepid.
• PeelingThis is the hinge of the dish. A soft-boiled egg has no firm core to protect it, so a torn white ruins the presentation. Very fresh eggs peel badly; eggs a week or more old release much more cleanly. Crack the shell all over, then peel under a thin stream of cold running water starting at the wide end where the air cell sits.
• Boiling water, not cold startThe instruction to drop them into water already boiling matters for the timing to mean anything. Lower them in on a spoon so they do not crack against the pan, and keep the water at a bare rolling boil rather than a violent one.
• The folded napkinA period service convention: eggs and other small items were commonly dressed on a folded cloth napkin. In practice it also keeps the shelled eggs out of a puddle and stops them rolling. A warmed dish and a folded linen napkin still do the job.
• Yield and servingTwelve eggs serves six as a first course, two apiece. Oeufs mollets are usually dressed rather than served plain: salt, pepper and butter at minimum, often a sauce (mornay, hollandaise, a tomato or sorrel sauce) or a bed of spinach. As written, this entry gives only the base cooking.