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Poached Eggs X - Australian Egg Corporation - The Lemon

Blog: Norfolk Single Dad
Posted by: Eddie2sox Friday 18th January 2008, 11:15pm
Last edited 18/01/2008 11:15pm by Eddie2sox

Let‘s face it, Australians are not renowned for their humility….

I was expecting this recipe to proclaim something along the lines of “this bleedin method knocks the dingo’s socks off any of your crappy Pommie or American ways, ya great galahs!” But it didn’t. Amazingly, the Australian Egg Corporation seem almost apologetic, as the phrase “cooking them just right can be tricky. Here’s our best advice” hints.

Is the Aussie Egg Co’s publicity department run by an Englishman? Or have we accidentally stumbled upon the first ever example of an Australian who admits that the way Oz does it might not be the best? Shocked by this revelation I got on with the recipe.

The sole reason I picked this one was the use of EITHER vinegar or lemon juice as the binding agent. I guess this means that all those who say only vinegar works are wrong, it seems that any acidic cooking-friendly liquid is the way forward.

You can find this recipe here : http://www.eggs.org.au/index.asp?pageid=193

Ease & Effort:

4.0 - Simple, straightforward, no hidden tricky bits. BUT. On two vital points the Aussie ambiguity cannot be ignored. The recipe states “Add one teaspoon of vinegar OR lemon juice”, and later “Either create a whirlpool OR wait for all the tiny bubbles of (sic) the side of the pan to disappear”. Two important choices left to the individual. I am guessing that most people who (need to) follow recipes do so because they want to be told exactly how to create the perfect end product. Having to make your own decisions, twice, will surely only create some doubt and apprehension. I chose to use lemon juice for the novelty, and to create a small whirlpool (mainly because there were no smalls bubbles on the side of my pan!). The lemon juice was interesting; when added to the water it fizzed almost like Alka-Seltzer does, and kept producing small twisters of tiny bubbles on the base of the pan throughout. So much so that the cooking time passed very quickly as I watched the water. Unheard of. A good effort, let down by the two “up to you, cobber” choices.

Presentation:

4.5 - This turned out beautifully! A “small whirlpool” and the implementation of the mid-point of the cooking time range produced a lovely-looking end product. In the pan the egg had four or five strands floating around, which was slightly worrying, but when the egg was drained - through the slotted spoon on a paper towel - the strands stuck in place and a well-defined “yolk inside the white” shape was the result. Fabulous!

Yolk:

2.0 - Consistent yellow colour throughout, tasted lovely, the only minor criticism I can make is that the eventual 3 ½ minute cooking time was just so ever-so-slightly too much. As you can see from the pic the yolk didn’t spread very far. But I’d rather “ever so slightly” too little than WAAAAAAAY too much, any day of the weekend. Almost perfect.

White:

2.5 - Spot on. No points lost. The Torville & Dean of the Poached Egg Challenge. Take a look at the photo. The white is very nearly a perfect circle, it is perfectly cooked, you can’t taste the lemon juice, and it even had the decency to leave its hangers-on at the paper towel stage. If Carlsberg cooked poached eggs, they still wouldn’t get it this right.

Summary:

Exceptionally, I have decided to summarise this method. It was fan-bloody-tastic. No airs and graces. Simplicity itself. Try it for yourself. The only downer? In a recipe that I started by describing possibly the first Aussie on Earth to show humility instead of arrogance, the end product was totally deserving of a large slice of Arrogant-Told-Ya-So Pie. I’m converted to lemon juice.

Scores On The Doors

Australian Egg Corporation - 13.0

Mahalo - 12.5

Vash The Stampede - 12.0

Old Bob - 11.5

Mr Breakfast - 11.5

Rick Stein - 10.5

Mrs Beeton - 9.0

Ainsley Harriott - 6.5

James Martin - 6.0

Delia Smith - 4.0

Running Order:

11 - Woolpack Wally

12 - Poached Egg Machine

Your Points Of View

Another nice comment from Sister L who added the following, referring to Mister Breakfast : “this looks quite appetising. Liked the Americanisms - they're something else aren't they?”

Send Me Your Comments!

New this time - YOUR chance to participate in the world’s best blog-based cooking/tasting eggy competition. The Welsh Rarebit thread prompted loads of comments and emails, and I wish I’d shared some of them with you. So. Email me at trix68@hotmail.co.uk or leave a comment on the blog.

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