Breakfast, snack, or appetizer? It's up to you, but be careful when cooking and choose the right garnish depending on the time of day: it's really worth replicating Michel Bras's “new classic,” a perfect summary of childhood memories in just a few centimeters of taste.
The dish according to Michel Bras
"The memory of simple childhood pleasures, which some might call old-fashioned, comes back like magic every time I think of the eggs and cheese I ate when I was little. It was a moment of joy at home every time my mother performed the ritual of boiling eggs. We would sit around the table, in front of the egg cup, excited and impatient. The water was boiling; we waited for the miracle. The toast was ready to be topped with a drop of Laguiole cheese, and the kitchen was filled with the aroma of toast and melted cheese. The moment became more and more intense, our mouths watering."
This is how Michel Bras introduces, in a post-recipe on his official Facebook profile, one of the most beloved dishes of French cuisine, born from home memories and delicious family rituals. But the best is yet to come: "Maman, beaming with happiness, served the coque-mouillettes (mouillettes are pieces of bread to dip in the egg, ed.) in two stages. First, we carefully opened the eggs and ate a piece of egg white with a spoon, just enough to dip a ‘soldier’—as we called the mouillettes. After the excitement, a sense of contemplation took over as we enjoyed that magical moment. Under our mother's loving gaze, we could never find the right balance between the ‘soldier’ and the egg... until the last scraping of the spoon at the bottom.
Today, recreating that dish means triggering an instant flashback, but enhancing the tactile and olfactory sensations with the methods of a great chef. So, the garnish is enriched with thyme flowers and grapes; the Roquefort cheese is delicately baked in the oven so that it melts partially and whitens the toasted bread; and the onion compote creates a continuum with the roundness of the egg yolk, warming the taste buds in a sweet embrace at the end. Choose your favorite version and arm yourself with a teaspoon: you're never too old to play “soldier”!
The recipe
Ingredients for 4 people
- 8 large fresh eggs
To accompany (first version, suitable for a snack)
- Walnut bread
- Soft cheese such as Roquefort
- Thyme flowers
- Grapes
To accompany (second version, recommended as an appetizer)
- Whole wheat bread
- Onion compote
- Hard cheese such as Laguiole
- Paprika
Preparation
"A good soft-boiled egg should have a soft white and a warm, runny yolk. Placing the egg in boiling water does not give the best results. My advice is to bring cold or lukewarm water to the boil with the egg already in it. The cooking time will depend on the amount of water, the number of eggs and the time it takes to reach boiling point. As a guide, 8 eggs in 1.5 liters of cold water over medium heat take about 7 minutes, but proceed by trial and error until you determine the ideal cooking time.“
MOUILLETTES OR TOASTED BREAD
”Use good bread cut into slices about 2 cm thick. Toast both sides."
CHEESE
“Spread a very thin layer of soft cheese, such as Roquefort, on the toasted bread, then return it to the oven to allow the cheese to melt partially. Cut the toasted bread into ”sticks“ about 10 x 1.5 cm (the ‘soldiers’) and serve with the eggs.”
VARIATIONS
For a snack
Soft-boiled eggs, bread sticks, soft cheese such as Roquefort.
“Prepare the bread strips with walnut bread, Roquefort cheese, and thyme flowers. You can garnish the top with thyme flowers and grapes.”
For an appetizer
Soft-boiled eggs, bread strips, hard cheese such as Laguiole.
“Prepare the bread strips using whole wheat bread, a thin layer of onion compote, and a little aged cheese. You can garnish the egg with onion rings and paprika.”
Other variations
You can serve the eggs with wild flowers, cumin, black truffle, or a shallot purée inside. At Bras Le Suquet, the great chef also proposed a version with a cereal crumble to recall toasted bread, which you can see in the photo.
