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Escalloped Eggs
Heat pretty little dishes (which come on purpose for this) with butter in them, break in an egg or two, as the person to be served desires; put them in the oven until the whites are cooked. Serve immediately; the person to whom it is served, stirring it up and seasoning.
These are shirred eggs under an older name, and the whole method depends on the dish being hot before the egg goes in. A few notes on translating the instructions.
- The "pretty little dishes"These are individual shirred-egg dishes: shallow, round, ovenproof, a few inches across, often with small handles or ears. A ramekin, a small gratin dish or a mini cast-iron skillet does the same work. A heavy dish holds heat better than a thin one, which matters here because the dish is heated before the egg goes in.
- Heat the dish firstThis is the hinge. Put the buttered dishes in the oven until the butter foams, then crack the eggs straight in. If the dish is cold the white spreads thin and cooks unevenly while the yolk overheats.
- Oven temperatureThe book gives none. A moderate oven of 350F to 375F suits this; 8 to 12 minutes for one egg, a little longer for two, judged by the white rather than the clock.
- "Until the whites are cooked"Means firm and opaque with the yolk still liquid. The residual heat of a hot dish keeps cooking after it leaves the oven, so pull them when a small area over the yolk still looks slightly translucent.
- Seasoning at the tableThe recipe leaves the salt to the eater. Set out salt, pepper and a spoon so each person can break and stir their own.
- Runny yolksBaked this way the yolk does not reach a pasteurising temperature. Use fresh, well-refrigerated eggs, and for anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or immune-compromised, cook until the yolk is set through.
- YieldOne dish per person, one or two eggs each as the original says. Butter generously, about a teaspoon per dish, since it is the only fat and the only sauce.
Shirred or "escalloped" eggs belong to a family of breakfast dishes that flourished when households owned specialised china for single servings, and the recipe reads as much as a piece of service instruction as a cooking method. The oeuf sur le plat of French cookery is the same idea, suited to hotel and boarding-house breakfast tables, where eggs could be baked to order in their own dishes and carried straight to the guest. The insistence that the diner does the stirring and seasoning reflects the period's fondness for food finished at the table, and also a practical point: the egg keeps cooking in a hot dish, so the last stage genuinely belonged to whoever was eating it. "Escalloped" here has nothing to do with breadcrumbs or cream sauce; it is often said to signal simply something baked in a small shell-like dish.