I'm not meaning to emulate Julie Powell or anything, but I'd like to relay my experience in poaching an egg for the first time. Because I love self-deprecation. And I love even more feeling triumphant.
It is a seemingly simple maneuver. What could be more bourgeois than cooking a freaking egg? But ohhhh noooo, it is not as basic as you think it to be.
The water has to be just the right temperature (Confession on this subject: I called my mother to ask her what simmering water looks like... The pressure of the great Julia Child brings me to second guess myself, ok?!!); you have to have just enough vinegar in the water so the egg solidifies correctly; and you have to drop the raw egg into the water in a certain way: slowly, RIGHT above the water.
I sacrificed four eggs to the simmering pot of water before The Chosen One revealed itself. The first four were such disappointments; the white yolk mixing into the water, splaying out in a nasty manner. Down the kitchen sink you go!
And I must tell you that I watched a video on YouTube of someone poaching an egg, so that I could visualize what I was supposed to do, rather than just read it. Is that considered cheating?
So, the fifth time was a charm. It wasn't a perfect top-that-bitch-off-with-some-hollandaise- sauce-and slap-a-$20-menu-price-on-it poached egg, but I enjoyed it. Enjoyed it with some baguette and sauteed spinach, with a big heaping helping of TRIUMPH and PRIDE on the side.
It might have been the best egg I've ever eaten.
2 comments :
Amazing! I am a big foodie, and there is nothing more satisfying than perfecting the poached egg! I haven't read MTAOFC so I don't know how Julia does it, but I gently swirl the water clockwise before dropping the egg in.
When it comes to poached eggs, I miss the butter.
Also, I want a high school drama student to take this post and perform it for a monologue assignment...
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