Egg & Cheese Dishes

Appears in

Published 1999

About

During my early childhood, for no very good reason, I decided I didn’t like eggs. Luckily, the first omelette I tasted on a holiday in France made me realise how silly I had been. Soon after that I picked up a new-laid egg from my grandmother’s hen hutch and she poached it for me; I had to admit that I had never tasted anything quite so good as that light and creamy-textured white with the orange yolk running over it. I cannot imagine where I would be without eggs; what would life be like without the cakes, omelettes, soufflés, real vanilla ice creams, mayonnaise, sauces and all the other miracles that eggs produce in the kitchen? Eggs provide a richness of flavour and wide variation of textures. The yolks can make sauces satin-smooth while thickening them to just the right degree and the fluffy lightness of the whites make a mixture rise to astonishing heights. Cheese, equally versatile, combines naturally with eggs and enhances many other ingredients. Leafy salads are at their most irresistible when speckled with thinly shaved or grated Parmesan. Vegetables with a gratin of melted cheese on top are always welcome. In fact, cheese dishes are the most popular choice for light but nutritious meals and snacks.