Once upon a time there were many
methods available for the preservation of eggs, but thanks to refrigeration, we
can now dispense with that particular household chore. There is one method
however which is still quite popular because it adds value over and above
simple preservation, and that is pickling. As a race, we seem to love the tangy
sour taste of pickled anything, and pickled eggs have been a standby at bars
for a very long time – the eggs both staying the dinner pangs and stimulating
thirst and so keep patrons drinking.
The
method of pickling eggs has not essentially changed over the centuries of
course, but it is surprising how many variations can be made on the basic
theme.
Some
time ago I gave you a recipe for pickled eggs from one of my favourite old
cookery texts - Domestic Economy, for rich and
poor, by a lady (1827). I repeat it here to start the
discussion:
To
pickle Eggs, an excellent Sea Store.*
Boil the eggs hard, and
put them into cold water, to preserve their colour; when they are cold, take
off the shells without injuring the egg: a jar should be chosen that will pack
the eggs, that there may be no waste of room, which also makes a waste of
vinegar; they may likewise be pickled in the shell.
Season and boil good
vinegar with pepper or mace, and salt and strain it over the eggs; let it cool,
and then have a fitted bung, which must be pressed tightly in with a cloth.
Look at them in a week, and if they require the vinegar to be boiled, do it for
sea store or keeping, but for immediate use it is not necessarv. The same
vinegar will answer again and again. A cook will find a store of pickled eggs
very useful, both in first and second-course dishes, as well as ornamental.
*For a sea store they
may be boiled hard in strong vinegar, salt, and spices, in the shell, and so
packed: they will keep any length of time.
And
a recipe from a hundred years earlier, this one flavoured with sage, which
sounds really good to me:
To Pickle Eggs.
Boil New laid Eggs in
Vinegar, Cloves, Pepper, and a Handful of Sage-leaves, till hard, then peel
them and put them into Glasses; when your Pickle is cold, put it to them, and
cover them down close.
Court Cookery: or, The Compleat
English Cook (1725) by Robert Smith (Cook)
Or
if you want your eggs a nice pink colour:
Pickled Eggs.
Boil them until hard;
throw them hot into cold water, which will make the shell slip off smoothly
after the eggs have remained in it about ten minutes; boil some red beets till
very soft; peel and mash them fine, and put enough of the liquor into cold
vinegar to color it pink; add a little salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cloves; put
the eggs into a jar and pour the beets, vinegar &c., over them. This makes
a pretty garnish for fish or corned meats. Cut the eggs in slices when used.
The Practical American Cook Book,
Or, Practical and Scientific Cookery (1855)
Perhaps
you would prefer a medley of different eggs?
A Delicious Pickle of Eggs.
Take two dozen of hens'
eggs, an equal number of turkeys' eggs, and the same number of guinea fowls'.
Boil them twenty minutes. When cold, take off the shells. Add to them six or
eight dozen, of plovers' or pigeons' eggs, also boiled hard and shelled. Have
ready an ounce each of cloves and mace, four or five nutmegs sliced, an ounce
of whole pepper, two ounces of ginger, half-a-dozen cloves of garlic, four
ounces of salt, and four or five bay-leaves. Put the eggs into a stone jar,
with this seasoning between them. Then pour over them sufficient boiling
vinegar to cover them. When cold, close the jar in the usual way. Let them
stand two days; then pour off the pickle, boil it, and return it to the eggs.
Repeat this twice, thus giving the vinegar three boilings after the first; each
boiling at an interval of two days. Close the jar in the usual manner.
This pickle may be made
with Hens' Eggs alone, or any other kind of eggs; but a variety of eggs is
preferable. Pickled eggs, formerly, were much esteemed.
The family save-all, a system of
secondary cookery (1861) by Robert Kemp Philip.
In
the following recipe, the hard-boiled eggs are halved before being put in a
spiced pickle.
Pickled Eggs.
Boil the eggs until very
hard; when cold, shell them, and cut them in halves lengthways. Lay them
carefully in large-mouthed jars, and pour over them scalding vinegar, well
seasoned with whole pepper, allspice, a few pieces of ginger, and a few cloves
of garlic. When cold, tie up closely, and let them stand a month. They are then
fit for use. With cold meat, they are a most delicious and delicate pickle.
The American Practical Cookery-book
(1860) by G.G.Evans.
And
finally, other than munching on a pickled egg as a snack, they can also be used
as a garnish:
Veal Cake, To Be Eaten Cold.
Pound, in a mortar, as
much cold roasted lean veal as, will fill a small mould, together with a slice
of ham, or bacon, a piece of the crumb of bread soaked in cold milk, two beaten
eggs, a small bit of butter, the same of shalot, or onion; season with pepper
and salt, and mix all well together; butter the mould, fill it, and bake it in
an oven for about an hour; turn it out when cold, and cut it into slices.
Garnish with pickled eggs and parsley.
The Practice of Cookery,
by Mrs. Dalgairns (1842)
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