Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Les Oeufs durs au Café de Flore



I've always loved hard boiled eggs. But I have to say here in the US, we have forsaken the hard-boiled egg. Please correct me if I'm wrong... Scrambled, fried, omlette (Fr.), poached, baked, Eggs Benedict, named after a traitor? this is not respectful, Huevos Ranchero, eggs over, eggs easy, eggs shirred or egg-in-the-moon etc.
I grew up eating what my moms' "Egg-in-the moon".
I always thought it was an Arte Déco dish.
First cut a round hole in the middle of one slice of the bread of your choice. Lightly toast it. In a small frying pan melt some butter. When bubbly add the toasted bread. Let it cook on just one side. Turn the slice over and break the egg so the yoke falls nicely into the cut-out circle. When the underside is browned turn it over again and cook the yoke just a bit.
Back to boiled eggs which I eat exclusively now.
In France things are different. The lowly boiled egg is greatly revered. It's even got 2 names: les oeufs durs or Les oeufs à la coque. And when resident at the Café de Flore, the boiled egg reaches new heights of glory. I'll be doing further research on this. Please be patient. I have yet to paint these beauties. They're also on the"to do" list.

4 comments:

  1. This from a friend: I love boiled eggs too, in Lech, Austria, we used to have a wonderful breakfast before skiing, I always went for the 3 minute eggs buried under lovely white linen napkins staying warm, and so yummy! Now I am hungry just thinking about it...

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  2. ha ha ah!

    I cook eggs two ways.. either boiled (4-5 minutes) or with bread with a hole in it.
    I have just come back from a 9000klm trip into the deserts of central Australia and taught my English guest this method!

    (This blog is a constant source of surprise & delight BTW)

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  3. Anonymous2:46 AM

    I wanted to say something about eggs, but first thank you so much for this beautiful blog! I am a 19 year old francophile who's other passions have always included breakfast and dessert, so your presence on the internet makes my life a little brighter and I greatly appreciate it. I am also an art student and I think your paintings are so delicate and delicious. I hope I can continue to be vicariously inspired through you in all these many ways for a long time!

    As for eggs, I have always been put off by hard boiled, but now that I'm older I find them very aesthetically pleasing and your post has inspired me to investigate. au revoir!

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