Every French Egg Recipe Chefs Must Master (Easiest to Hardest)

I'm Sebastian Baud, Chef de Cuisine

at the French Consulate in New York.

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Today I'm going to demonstrate

every French egg cooking technique from easiest to hardest.

All students training to be chefs in France

must master these techniques as part of their training.

Though the egg is a simple ingredient,

it can be transformed dozens of different ways,

each with its own unique and fascinating texture.

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Oeufs a la coque, eggs cooked and served in their shells.

I start with boiling

by placing room temperature eggs

into a pan of boiling water.

Submerging cold eggs straight from the refrigerator

into boiling water will cause their shells to crack

due to thermal shock.

The shell can expand unevenly

and crack if it heats too fast.

For this dish, I cook the egg

for only four minutes to achieve a soft-boiled texture,

Oeufs a la coque are so soft

that they cannot be peeled without breaking,

so they must be eating in their shells.

To serve, I cut the top off and serve with a small spoon

and strips of baguette for dipping.

These are called mouillettes, or soldiers in English.

The result is a just set white with a yolk that is liquid,

custardy, rich and glossy.

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Oeufs en cocotte, eggs cooked in the oven

in small pots called cocottes,

topped with a reduction of cream.

A very simple technique even for beginners.

These ramekins have been buttered inside,

seasoned with salt and paper,

and before the oven I fill a sheet tray with water

that will slowly heat the dishes and cook the eggs gently.

This is called a bain marie.

Cooking them in this water bath prevents them from burning

or overcooking, making this technique very foolproof.

Oeufs en cocotte can be served

with many different additions like mushrooms or bacon,

but the surplus is a reduction of heavy cream

that is heavy cream that's been cooked done

to thicken the texture and intensify the flavor

with the heavy cream it just is making the dish very tender.

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Omelet paysanne, country-style flat omelet.

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This is not the classic French omelet,

but a much simpler relative with rustic filling,

almost like a frittata.

I beat the eggs and heat all butter in a small frying pan.

It's okay if the butter burns in this dish.

Again, this is not the classic French omelet.

When the filling is cooked, we add eggs

and cooked until they are just set on the bottom.

The dish is finished on the salamander,

very high heat boiler until cooked through.

This dish can be served mostly in France during lunch.

I will say in France, people don't really have eggs

for breakfast.

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Oeufs mimosa, in English these are called deviled eggs.

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It begins with the hard boiled eggs I made earlier

now cooked for nine minutes, peeled, cut in half

and remove the yolk carefully.

The yolk are only just cooked through

with no unsightly gray discoloration,

it must be only yellow.

We chop the eggs very finely and evenly.

A shopped filling that include egg whites is more light

and complex than just using yolks and mayonnaise,

so I include the white as well.

This dish should only be made

with fresh hand-made mayonnaise.

This is for food hygiene, the mayonnaise must be consumed

during the same day it was conceived.

The finished dish looks like the small yellow flowers

of the mimosa.

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Eggs Florentine, oeufs a la Florentine.

In French cuisine dishes called Florentine

are served with spinach

and are finished with a cheesy Mornay sauce.

I begin by sauteing garlic and soft baby spinach.

I add a few spoons of Mornay sauce.

Just a little bit, not too much.

This is made by adding gruyère and Parmesan cheese

to a bechamel.

It is rich, creamy and savory.

Season with pepper and salt and then it's done.

We make a bed for oeuf Mornay from the spinach with Mornay.

I boil two eggs, cooked it to medium, that six minutes

of cook time, leaving the inside still quite soft.

I had more Mornay sauce on top

and finished the dish under the salamander

until it is hot and bubbling.

It's very creamy,

rich and you wanna have a second one right after.

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Oeuf au plat, this preparation is not common in homes,

it is taught in culinary school

to demonstrate the distinctions

in cooking the whites and the yolks.

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We begin by separating the eggs.

We will cook the whites first,

we place them in a flat butter dish

that gives this dish its name.

They are cooked in a water bath like the oeuf en cocotte

and when they are just set, we add the egg yolks on top,

Add drops of balsamic vinegar and finish in the new oven.

The whites are evenly set all the way through

with no raw parts.

This short bake time sets the egg whites all the way through

and leave the yolk just barely cooked

but solidified.

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Oeuf parfait, perfect soft boiled eggs.

The goal with this technique is to have the egg yolk

and the egg white with the same consistency.

Sous vide cooking is common now,

but it was a technology invented and perfected

by a French chef in the 1970s.

This immersion circulator heats and circulates the water

maintaining a temperature of exactly 147 degrees Fahrenheit.

I submerge the eggs in the water bus for 40 minutes.

You cook it slowly and evenly through the whole egg,

so when you crack it

everything is the same consistency and temperature.

I crack the egg into a dish

and the result is like a more delicate poached egg,

soft and very shiny, a modern classic.

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Oeufs brouilles aux truffes,

scrambled eggs With black truffles.

These have been stored with a black truffle

just being next to the truffles,

permeates the eggs with their fragrance.

Eggs can take flavors from other food

that have a strong scent.

I crack eggs into a bowl and season.

French scrambled eggs are never cooked over direct heat.

Instead they are cooked in a bowl

over a pot of simmering water.

This causes the protein to set slowly.

With constant steering the result is small curds

with a creamy texture.

It is a slower process than cooking over direct heat

and requires constant attention.

When they are almost cooked, we add chopped truffles

and finish with shaved truffle on top.

Adding truffle to the eggs gives a nice flavor

and goes very well together.

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Omelet.

This is the classic French omelet.

A simple dish required careful timing

and skill to achieve the perfect result.

After seasoning with salt and paper,

I beat the egg just until mixed.

Beating the eggs too much causes the protein to tighten

and squeeze our moisture while cooking,

resulting in rubbery eggs.

The pan must be on low heat to ensure slow cooking.

If there is any burning, the dish will be ruined.

That is why I use clarified butter.

The milk solids have been removed, living only the fat,

which will not burn.

The egg is cooked so it is only barely set,

and then I roll it carefully using the spatula to guide it

and then tilt the pan to fold it over onto itself.

The final shape should look like an American football.

The interior is just cooked

and the outside is pale and smooth.

I finish it by brushing it with butter to make it shine.

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Ile flottante, floating island or snow eggs.

It is an old fashioned dessert

that transforms the eggs into a cloud like texture.

We begin by making a meringue.

It is very important to start

with room temperature, egg white

for a fluffy, stable meringue.

I add sugar, several parts and continue to whisk

until the meringue is formed.

At a higher temperature protein denatures more easily

and bond together to trap more air.

Extremely fresh eggs have a tight protein structure

and may be difficult to whip.

Traditionally, eggs are left out for at least two days

before they are used for meringue.

After mixing, the meringue should hold it's shape,

but it should not be too stiff.

This is the beginning, but now we cook the meringue.

First I use two spoons to form the meringue into canals.

You will see this shape in many other classic French dishes.

We poach the eggs gently in water for a few minutes,

turning them over frequently

so that each side is cooked evenly.

The gentle heat develops a soft, pillowy texture

while also locking in the dishes cloud like shape.

The texture become like a marshmallow or cotton candy.

I made Creon anglaise in advance with milk, egg yolk,

sugar, and vanilla.

If the dish is called floating island,

dish makes up the ocean.

The dish is fluffy, gentle, clean, and comforting.

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Souffle au fromage, a classic savory dish

that will puff up dramatically in the oven.

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A successful souffle requires careful handling

of ingredients and perfect timing.

It must be cooked precisely

and serve immediately for full effect.

I begin by whisking egg whites.

Whisking at low speed creates small uniform bubbles,

giving more stability

that will prevent the souffle from quickly collapsing.

Once again, I use Mornay sauce as the base.

You must fold the base very gently with the egg white

to avoid popping the bubbles and losing airation.

The mixture does not have to be completely smooth.

We pour the mixture into the bettered souffle dish.

The straight sides will help the souffle rise up.

In the heat of the oven.

The egg whites solidify the moisture converts to steam

and air bubbles expand causing the souffle to rise.

Once you take it out, it must be served immediately

before the air bubbles deflate and the souffle falls.

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Oeufs en meurette, eggs poach in red wine.

This is a dish from Burgundi.

It is so overt that each year

that region hosts a championship in which chefs compete

to create the best version of the dish.

This is the version taught in culinary schools

and it requires skill to execute every element correctly.

It begins by poaching eggs directly in the red wine sauce

made with onions and lardons of bacon.

This is called sauce meurette

and it is similar to sauce bourguignonne.

poaching eggs is already a delicate technique,

but it's made more difficult

since you can't see into the source.

The color change is striking,

but the eggs also absorb the wine's fruity, complex flavors.

They are ready when the white is solid

and the york is still creamy.

The poached eggs are served

on top of toasted, buttered bread

uncover with their sauce.

But that's a delicious sauce with the bacon

and the onions, the garlic

and explosion of flavors.

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Oeufs en gelee.

Our last dish and the most challenging

is a traditional dish of poached eggs in aspic.

All its elements together take several days to prepare

and ensemble.

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And the dish is a test of many different skills.

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First, I prepare the decoration.

These are blanched leaks and papers.

All French culinary school students are taught

to cut these decorative designs.

That's how you practice by doing this easy shape.

So it is always the same as the classic one,

but then after when you grow up,

I would say in this business,

and you have more skills,

I see people do crazy things, you know.

The stock has been made in advance,

this alone takes many hours.

It must be cooked cooled and clarified

to capture any impurities so the final result is clear.

and he must have enough gelatin

to set firmly around the egg.

I purchased a few milliliters of liquid

to set the design in place.

When he has set I had a strip of ham

around the sides of the dish,

it must stay perfectly upright.

I add the poached egg and pour some more jelly

to set it in place.

After several hours, the jelly will be set.

To serve I create another decoration for the plate.

I chop up some of the solidified stock.

The final step is to unmold the eggs in hot water,

aiming to keep the shape perfectly intact.

Always an anxious moment.

And voila oeufs en gelee,

our most complex dish today.

One sample ingredient, many different preparations.

These techniques represent one

of the foundations of French cuisine.

Mastering them will allow a chef to create hundreds

or even a thousand more dishes.

Bon appetit.

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