6 28 MARCH 2024 News&Views It’s brunchtime at Ed Smith’s house in Hackney, east London. The chef and food writer has a simple prep list: a can of finely chopped tomatoes, a jar of anchovies, a pot of olives, garlic, oregano, basil, and the star of the show – eggs. The tomato mixture bubbles and thickens in a cast-iron pan, filling the room with the appetitewhetting smell of a pizza topping. Ed cracks four eggs, dropping each into its own little tomatoey well, and lets them simmer until the whites are cooked. Minutes later, and with an umami-rich shower of parmesan, a drape of anchovies and some decorative basil leaves and warm flatbreads for scooping, brunch is served. It’s deliciously sweet, savoury, sharp, gentle, familiar and quick. “The pizza baked eggs are an easy win,” says Ed, whose latest cookbook, Good Eggs, suggests more than 100 straightforward recipes in which eggs star. “Everyone in the house [his wife and son] enjoys it.” His family’s approval reflects a nationwide appetite that has seen egg consumption rise steadily since 2006, according to Egg Info, which is administered by the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC). We now boil, scramble, bake, fry, or omelette more than 12.5 billion eggs a year – that’s around 190 each. “They are one of the most nutritious, sustainable, and a ordable foods, and play a crucial role in everyday meals,” says the BEIC’s Phil Slaney. From the perfect breakfast scramble to a Yemeni-inspired and chilli-inflected baked supper, the humble staple is a cornerstone of Ed Smith’s new cookbook. He rustles some up for Tessa Allingham AN EGG In focus 100 WAYS TO COOK GOOD EGGS Ed Smith (left); recipes in his book include Yemeni-inspired eggs (top) and Korean-style mayak eggs (right) Good Eggs is the fourth cookbook for Ed, a city lawyer turned chef and food writer. Most of the practical recipes require only a moderately stocked larder, he says, likening the immediacy to “a physical version of Instagram on a Saturday morning”. There are back-to-basics details. Boil an egg in a ‘gentle but definite boil’ for four-and-a-half minutes for dippy, six-and-a-half for runny, seven for jammy and seven minutes 45 seconds for fudgy. Time the process, too, because the disappointment of a non-dippable dippy egg is great. What about adding cream to scrambled eggs? “Unnecessary and expensive,” Ed says, setting himself up against kitchen titans such as Gordon Ramsay (he’s for crème fraîche), Marco Pierre White (double cream), and Delia (either). And he’s in the ‘season at the end’ camp. “But honestly, it’s not going to ruin breakfast. What’s important with scrambled eggs is cooking them slowly, constantly stirring and taking them o the heat before they’re done.” If you want to elevate your egg game, Ed’s recipes scope the world, because there’s barely a cuisine that doesn’t use eggs. From Yemen come hard-boiled eggs served with malawach (a pu y, flaky flatbread), grated tomatoes and the chilli-coriander pep of zhoug. Next to Korea, for jammytextured mayak eggs marinated in soy, chilli and sesame, served with sticky rice, and pickled carrots and radish (try pickled cucumber and daikon too, he suggests in the useful ‘also consider’ segment that accompanies recipes). A favourite is sausage laab and fried egg bun. Inspired by
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDY5NzE=