Eggs
So, you know what a chef's toque is, right? It's one of those chef hats that goes straight up and has a number of pleats on it. Traditionally that toque is supposed to have 101 pleats on it.Why?
Because that's the number of ways a French master chef is supposed to be able to cook an egg.
The other day I got schooled in what I didn't know. Egg cookery. I can make the perfect scrambled eggs, omelettes, hard boiled, sunny side up, and fried, but beyond that things start to get a little more dicey. At a French cooking school, we were more concerned with sauces than doing eggs.
And thus I meet my current nemesis: over easy.
On Sunday morning during the quiet periods on the line, I stood in front of the saute station and worked on my over easy.
Step 1, get a non-stick pan over medium heat.
Step 2, put a small amount of oil in it.
Step 3, crack two eggs and place in pan.
Step 4, wait until the whites have set.
Step 5, using a gentle forward and back motion, flip the eggs.
Step 6, let cook for a little bit, then plate.
Step 5 kills me every time. Sometimes the eggs yolks break. Sometimes the eggs simply fold over themselves and simply refuse to flip. Other times there was too much oil in the pan and the eggs separate. Out of a dozen attempts, I maybe got it to work twice.
For all of my fancy training, I still can't get an egg to come out perfect every time.
So now every morning when I get into work, I make myself two eggs over easy. Nemesis be damned, I'm going to get it right.
2 Comments:
I used to work with a line cook who, because of some serious years in various kitchens, could do all the diner fare really well. He was convinced that I could learn it if I was willing to break a few dozen eggs. Your training should factor you down at least one dozen. Right?
BTW: Over-medium for me, those squiggly whites make me feel a bit green around the edges.
Oh, no over easy ... it's got something built in that all French trained chefs love - a nice sauce ;) Over medium? Sauce, not so good.
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