Eggs and Cheese

Since I’ve lived in Burgundy, I’ve become spoiled by a constant supply of fresh eggs from the farmyard. They inspire simple little supper dishes like eggs baked en cocotte with sweet baby onions. When Chef Chambrette comes down from Paris, the classic dish of poached eggs in meurette red wine sauce, now enjoying a renaissance, appears as a first course.

The variety of local cheeses made within a hundred-kilometer radius of home is an even greater temptation. From the north come creamy Brie and Coulommiers, while the greatest of all is Epoisses, sold at every stage of ripeness to a mellow, redolent cream. Add to these a dozen anonymous types of goat’s cheese and it’s easy to understand why Burgundians tend to eat their cheese rather than cook with it. Gougères, however, are the exception.