The Stewpot Recipe Gallery

German Egg Brewet

(From The Viandier of Taillevent)

Boil together eggs poached in oil, boiled almond milk and sliced onions fried in oil; then grind ginger, cinnamon, cloves, grains of paradise and a little saffron infused in verjuice, and add these to the other ingredients without boiling too much.  It should be quite thick and not too yellow.

Ingredients:

Olive oil
Dozen eggs
2 cups scalded almond milk
3 cups thinly sliced onions (about one large onion)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground Ceylon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground grains of paradise
Pinch of ground cloves
Pinch of saffron threads, crushed to a powder, and infused in
   1 tablespoon verjuice or lemon juice
Salt, to taste

Preparation Steps

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Thoroughly coat a 12-cup muffin pan with olive oil.  Carefully break each egg into a muffin cup.  Place the eggs in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.  (Even if the eggs appear to be a bit runny, remove them after fifteen minutes-between the residual heat in the muffin pan and the final steps of the recipe, they will be thoroughly cooked.)

 While the eggs are in the oven, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, and stir well to coat them with the oil.  Cook them until they are very soft and slightly brown, about six to eight minutes (take care that they do not become too brown, or that will affect the final color of the sauce).

 Whisk the spices thoroughly into the almond milk, and add this mixture to the onions.  Stir well.  Add the saffron-infused verjuice and stir quickly to blend it into the sauce.

 Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer (continuing to stir), until the sauce becomes very thick, about three to five minutes.

 When the eggs have been removed from the oven and allowed to cool a bit, loosen each egg with a knife or small rubber spatula.  You can then carefully add each egg to the skillet to coat it with the sauce and warm the dish through, or place the eggs on a platter and spoon the sauce over them.  Serve immediately.

Number of Servings

12.

Serving Size

One egg

References

• The Viandier of Taillevent, An Edition of All Extant Manuscripts, edited by Terence Scully (University of Ottowa Press, 1988)