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Eggs with Tomatoes
3 tablespoonfuls Crisco 4 even-sized tomatoes 8 rounds buttered toast 3 eggs
The Crisco book prints the ingredient list and leaves the method to the cook, as many 1913 collections did for simple egg dishes. The proportions tell you most of what you need: firm tomato halves fried in fat, eggs scrambled or beaten in, all piled on toast.
- No method givenThis entry as printed here is quantities only. A reasonable reconstruction: halve or thickly slice the tomatoes, fry them in the Crisco until just softened, then add the beaten eggs and stir until barely set, spooning the mixture over the toast.
- CriscoCrisco in 1913 was a hydrogenated cottonseed shortening, sold as a neutral all-purpose fat and promoted hard as a butter and lard substitute. Modern Crisco is a different formulation; 3 tablespoons of butter or oil behaves the same way here.
- Three eggs, four tomatoesThe egg is a binder, not the bulk. Expect a loose tomato hash rather than an omelette, and salt the tomatoes as they cook so they release liquid early rather than on the toast.
- Eggs off the heatThe hinge of the dish. Tomatoes carry a lot of heat and water; pull the pan while the eggs still look underdone or they will curdle and weep into the toast.
- Buttered toastEight rounds may mean small circles cut from sliced bread with a cutter, though in period usage 'a round of toast' can also simply mean a slice. Four slices of ordinary toast serve the same purpose.
- YieldNot stated. The eight rounds suggest four light servings, or two as a supper dish.
The Story of Crisco (published by Procter & Gamble, 1913) was a promotional cookbook, its recipes chosen to show that a hydrogenated vegetable fat could stand in for butter and lard anywhere in the kitchen. Eggs with tomatoes belongs to a large family of turn-of-the-century "made dishes on toast" that stretched a few eggs across a plateful, and it resembles dishes such as the Basque piperade and shakshuka, though no connection between them is documented.