Indispensable Eggs & Cheese

It’s hard to imagine a French country kitchen without eggs and cheese. Simply cooked, they are the answer to many a light meal and quick supper. There’s even a word for it, grignoter, “to nibble.”

Hens are long gone from most country households, but fresh farm eggs are sold in French farmers’ markets, easily identified by their motley sizes and unwashed shells. Here you have the best hope of an egg with a golden yolk to add color to egg dishes and cakes, though, to be candid, color depends as much on the breed of hen as how it was fed. More important is flavor — the taste of a fresh egg from a hen that has led an outdoor life is instantly recognizable when soft boiled, baked en cocotte, or whisked in an omelet. Most portions in France are modest by American standards, but eggs are an exception. Two eggs are a minimum serving, even three when scrambled or in an omelet. If a single baked or poached egg were to be offered, even in a rich sauce meurette, the cook would be regarded as stingy.