Nostalgic Egg Lessons

Nostalgic Egg Lessons

These are a compilation of notes that i find very interesting and meaningful. 

It includes History, Philosophy, Recipe and of course Common Sense.
They are hand-written notes i made years ago and now i am sharing this online,
The pictures are the products of "copy and paste" from google.com.

As i was reading these old notes, the nostalgia is just amazing ! 

Hopefully, you would enjoy these as much as i did !

Have fun Reading !

The World Egg

In the beginning, this world was non-existent. As it became existent, it developed and turned into an EGG. 

One part Silver, One part Gold.

That which was Silver is this Earth, That which was Gold is the Sky,

That which was the outer membrane is the Mountains,

That which was the inner membrane is the Clouds,

What were the veins are the Rivers,

What was the fluids within is the Ocean.

What was born from the Egg is the Sun,

When it was born, shouts and hurrahs and all being and all desires rose up towards It.

Therefore at its Rise and at its every Return, shouts and hurrahs and all being and all desires Rise!

Egg and Yolk

Egg comes from an Indo-European root meaning "Bird".

The brusque-sounding Yolk is rich in overtones of light and life, It comes from the English word "Yellow".

Both the English and Greek derived ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning "to gleam, to glitter".

The same root gave us Glow and Yellow.

Roman Custard, Savory and Sweet

Patina of Soles

Beat and clean the soles and put in patina. Throw in oil, liquamen, wine. While dish cooks, pound and rub pepper, lovage, oregano; pour in some of the cooking liquid, add raw eggs and make in to a mass. Pour over the soles and cook on a slow fire. When the dish comes together, sprinkle with pepper and serve.

"Cheese" Patina

Measure enough milk for your pan, mix with honey as for the other milk dishes, add five eggs for a pint, three for a half pint. Mix them in milk until they make one mass, strain into a dish from Cuma, then cook over slow fire. When it is ready, sprinkle with some pepper and serve.

Arboulastre - An Omelette

Prepare mixed herbs: Mint, Sage, Marjoram, Fennel, Parsley, Violet leaves; include: Rue, Spinach, Lettuce, Ginger.

Beat seven eggs together and mix them together then divide in to two and make ällumellës.

First heat up frying pan with butter and cast your eggs mixture in, turn frequently over and under; then throw in some good grated cheese on top.

Know that when the ällumellës is done, the cheese that is underneath sticks to the pan and when your herbs are fried in the pan, shape your Arboulastre into a square or round.

-Lé Ménagier de Paris, ca 1390

Poche to Potage - Poach in Cremé Anglaisé

Take eggs and break them into boiling water and let them seethe, when they are done, take them out and take milk and yolks of egg and beat them well together.

In a pot, put them together with honey and saffron, let them seethe and cast therein powder of ginger and dress the egg in dishes with poured pottage from above.

-Antiquitates Culinariaé, 1791, ca 1400

Early Acid Tenderized Eggs

Marmales or Scrambled Eggs and Verjus - Without Butter

Beat four eggs seasoned with salt and adjust with four spoonsful of verjus, put the mix on the fire and stir gently with a silver spoon until thicken, take them off the fire and continue stirring as they thicken.

One can make scrambled eggs the same way with lemon juice ..

-Lé Patissiér François, ca 1690

Eggs and Fire

Roasting

Turn fresh eggs carefully in warm ashes near the fire so that they cook on all sides. When they begin to leak, they are freshly done, these are the best and most agreeably served.

Eggs on a Spit

Pierce eggs with a well heated spit and parch them over the fire as if they were meat. This was men't to be a Chefs Joke and though to be a stupid invention and unsuitable for "hauté cuisine". 

- Dé honesta voluptaté e't valetudine, 1475

Oeufs brouillés au jus

Beat eggs and pass them through a fine sieve into a casserole dish, add Isigny butter, season with salt, white pepper, grated nutmeg; place on moderate stove and whip.
As soon as they begin to thicken, remove the casserole from the heat and continue to whip until the eggs form a light, smooth cream.
Add demiglace, butter, and return to stove for the finishing. Serve with caviar.

-Antonin Caréme, L'Art de la cuisine françias au 19iéme siécle, 1835

First Recipes for Créme brúlée, Créme Anglaise and Créme Caramel

Messialot's recipe for Créme Brúlée is the First, The identical recipe in the 1731 edition of his book is renamed "Créme a l'Angloise" which may well be the origin of the basic stirred cream. The English Cream has yet to be unearthed at this time.

Créme Brúlée

Mix yolks and a pinch of flour in a casserole; add milk little by little then cinnamon stick and green citron peel. Put on stove-top and stir continuously, don't let the cream stick to the bottom. When it is well cooked, place a platter on the stove and pour cream onto it and cook until it sticks to the platter rim. Remove from heat and sugar it well; take a fire iron, good and red, burn the cream so that it takes a fine gold color.

-F. Massialot, Lé cuisinier roial et bourgeois, 1692

A few decades later, Vincent La Chapelle plagiarized Massialot's Recipe for his own version which is copied word from word only adding 

.... When cream is well cooked, put a silver platter onto the hot stove with some powdered sugar and little water to dissolve; when sugar has cooled, pour cream on top; turn the sugar along the platter rim onto the top of your cream. Serve at once.

-V. La Chapelle, Lé cuisinier moderné, 1742

Medieval Cheesecake

Tart de bry

Take raw yolks of egg, and good fat cheese, dess it and mix well together. Add powdered cinnamon, ginger, sugar and saffron; put it on a crust and bake it.

-Antiquitates Culinariae, 1791, ca 1400

The First Pastry Cream

Making Cresme de Pästissier

Take a chopine of good milk in a pot and put on fire; you must also have eggs, and while milk heats up, break two eggs and mix the white and yolk with half a litron flour with a little milk. When the flour is diluted without lumps, throw in two more eggs to mix well with this preparation.

When the milk begins to boil, you pour in little by little this mixture of eggs, flour and milk;let it boil on a low flame and stir with a spoon as if with a porridge. 

At your discretion, add salt as it cooks and a quarteron good fresh butter.

Cream should cook for a good half hours then pour into a bowl and set aside for which pastry cook can use in many baked goods.

-Lé Pätissier françois, ca 1690

Earliest of White Foams: Snow and Biscuits

Eggs in Snow

Break the eggs, separate whites from yolks, place the eggs on a plate with some butter, season with salt, place on hot coals. Beat and whip the whites well, and just before serving, throw them on the yolks with a drop of rose water, the fire iron underneath; sugar then serve.

-François Pierre de La Varenne, Lé Cuisinier françois, 1651

Italian Biskets

Take a quarter pound of searsed sugar, beat it in an Alabaster Mortar with the white of eggs, add a little gum tragacanth steep't in rose water to bring to a Perfect Paste. Mould it with a little Anniseed and a grain of Musk; then make it up like a Dutch Bread, bake it on a Pye-plate in a warm oven till they rise high and white.

Take them out but handle them till they be thoroughly dry and cold.

-Queen's Closet Open'd, 1655

Earliest of Soufflée and Soufflé

Omelette Soufflée with Veal Kidney

Take a roasted veal kidney, with fats, chop and put onto a casserole to cook for a moment to break apart. Off the fire and ladle a large spoonful of sweet cream and yolks  whose whites you will whip; season with salt, minced parsley and candied lemon peel.

Whips whites of egg to snow; mix with the rest and beat it well. A piece of butter put to the pan till melted; pour in your mixture and cook gently.

Hold a red-hot fire iron above it and invert onto the serving platter and put onto a small stove and rise they will to a handsome height.

Powder with sugar and glaze with the fire iron without touching the Omelette Entrremet.

Timbales of Cream

Have a good pastry cream, bitter almond biscuits, candied lemon peel, orange flowers; add them to white eggs and whip them to snow.

Have your timbales dishes greased with good fresh butter; powder them with crumbs of biscuit and fill with your snow cream.

Cook them in the oven, turn them out and serve hot.

-Vincent La Chapelle, Lé Cuisinier moderne, 1742

Medieval Precursors of Zabaglione and Sabayon

Chaudeau flament - Flemish Hot Drink

Set little water to boil; beat egg yolks without whites; mix them with wine and pour gradually into your water stirring it well to keep it from setting. Salt off the fire, verjuice and serve.

-Taillevent, Lé Viandier, ca 1375

Cawdell Ferry

Raw yolks of egg separated from whites and good wine in a pot on a fair fire; throw in the yolks and stir well and let it not boil; till it be thick, add in sugar, saffron, salt, mace, gilly-flowers and galigale. When serving, sprinkle with powdered ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.

-Harleian MS279, ca 1425

Zabaglone

Cups of Zabaglone gets with fresh egg yolks, sugar, good cinnamon sticks and a good sweet wine. Cook this until thick as broth; set it out on a plate for the boys with a bit of good fresh butter.

-Cuoco Napoletano, ca 1475, transl. Terence Sully