Chef Juliette
Omelette à l’Écossaise
A creamy omelette aux fines herbes closes around smoked-salmon-wrapped herring milts, gently poached in butter. Have the filling ready, then roll the eggs while they still shine.
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Meyerbeer Eggs
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 405, Meyerbeer Eggs, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Soft eggs, a butter-bronzed lamb kidney, and a narrow ring of truffled Périgueux sauce: Œufs Meyerbeer teach the classical art of having every garnish ready before the eggs meet the oven.
Breakfast & Brunch
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
30 min
Active Time
20 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 servings
Œufs Meyerbeer (soft eggs baked in their serving dishes with grilled lamb kidney and truffled Périgueux sauce) teach readiness. The kidney and sauce must be hot, seasoned, and within reach before the eggs begin, because the eggs wait for nothing. When the dish lands correctly, the whites are milky and tender, the yolks tremble, the kidney is bronzed, and the dark sauce runs around them in a narrow, glossy ring.
The original recipe assumed a saucier holding Périgueux sauce over a stock never off the fire, a grill working beside the range, and a salamander to set the eggs evenly. At home, prepare the finished sauce ahead, use a heavy skillet for the kidneys, and arrange four shallow dishes on one sheet pan for the oven. The holding apparatus and brigade choreography are scaffolding, so they go; the two-egg dish, one small kidney between the yolks, and the thread of sauce are the dish, so they stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Begin the eggs only after the kidneys are cooked and the sauce falls from a spoon in a smooth ribbon. A slightly underdone white can return to the oven for seconds, but a firm yolk cannot be turned back. That timing is the one step that matters.
Œufs Meyerbeer belong to the cosmopolitan Parisian grand kitchen, where dishes named for celebrated artists joined eggs, offal, truffles, and reduced sauces into compact supper plates. The name points to the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, but the garnish follows classical kitchen grammar rather than any documented household recipe of his. Périgueux sauce carries the truffle larder of Périgord into the dish, yet Œufs Meyerbeer are not a regional Périgord specialty; their home is the Paris table.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
Eggs on the Dish
Quantity
4 two-egg portions Eggs on the Dish (No. 395)
prepared at serving time according to its own formula
small lamb kidneys
Quantity
4 (about 10 ounces / 280 g total)
butterflied and white cores removed
unsalted butter
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g)
melted
fine sea salt
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g)
finished Périgueux sauce
Quantity
1/2 cup (120 ml / 125 g)
kept hot
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| Eggs on the Dishprepared at serving time according to its own formula | 4 two-egg portions Eggs on the Dish (No. 395) |
| small lamb kidneysbutterflied and white cores removed | 4 (about 10 ounces / 280 g total) |
| unsalted buttermelted | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) |
| fine sea salt | 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 3 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 ml / 0.6 g) |
| finished Périgueux saucekept hot | 1/2 cup (120 ml / 125 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •Four shallow ovenproof egg dishes
- •Rimmed sheet pan
- •Heavy skillet or ridged grill pan
- •Small sharp knife
- •Small saucepan
- •Instant-read thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Trim the kidneys
Peel away the thin outer membranes, then open each kidney along its inner curve without cutting it into separate pieces. Remove every firm white core and tube with a small sharp knife. Rinse the kidneys briefly under cold water and dry them thoroughly. A wet kidney releases liquid in the pan and never takes the bronzed surface this dish needs.
- 2
Ready sauce and oven
Set the oven to the temperature specified for Eggs on the Dish (No. 395), then arrange four shallow ovenproof egg dishes on a rimmed sheet pan. Warm the Périgueux sauce gently in a small saucepan until it falls from a spoon in a narrow ribbon. Keep it covered over the lowest heat. If it tightens or forms a skin, whisk in hot water one teaspoon at a time until smooth. Ça se rattrape.
- 3
Grill the kidneys
Heat a heavy skillet or ridged grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush the kidneys with melted butter, season them with the salt and pepper, and lay them cut-side down. Cook until deeply bronzed, turn once, and continue until just firm with no raw red centre, about 4 to 5 minutes in total, or 160°F (71°C) at the thickest point. If they shed liquid, lift them out, pour the liquid away, bring the pan back to full heat, and return them briefly to recover the browning. Hold the kidneys on a warm plate while the eggs cook.
- 4
Cook the eggs
Prepare the four two-egg portions of Eggs on the Dish (No. 395) exactly according to that formula, beginning only when the kidneys and sauce are ready. Stop at its milky-white cue, while the yolks remain fluid and the whites still quiver slightly. The hot dishes continue the cooking after they leave the oven. If a patch of clear white remains after fifteen seconds, return the sheet pan for another fifteen to twenty seconds; an underdone white can be corrected, but an overcooked yolk cannot.
- 5
Garnish and serve
Set one grilled kidney between the two yolks in each dish. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of hot Périgueux sauce in a narrow thread around the eggs, circling rather than covering them. Carry the dishes straight to the table while the whites remain tender and the sauce gleams. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Use exceedingly fresh eggs. The whites of older eggs spread thinly and cook unevenly, while a fresh white holds close enough to the yolk to remain tender from edge to centre.
- •Fresh lamb kidneys should be plump, moist, and clean-smelling, never acrid. Ask the butcher to leave them whole so you can remove the white core yourself without losing their shape.
- •Périgueux sauce must be a finished sauce built on proper demi-glace, Madeira, and chopped black truffle. Truffle oil supplies perfume without the body or depth the eggs require, so it cannot stand in for the sauce.
- •The sauce is a thread, not a moat. Its concentration should sharpen the egg and kidney, not drown them. A light red Burgundy has enough freshness for the richness and enough earthiness for the truffle.
Advance Preparation
- •The Périgueux sauce can be prepared up to two days ahead, chilled promptly, and reheated very gently. Whisk in a teaspoon of hot water if refrigeration has tightened it.
- •The kidneys can be trimmed up to six hours ahead. Keep them covered in the cold, then dry and season them only when the pan is hot.
- •Eggs on the Dish (No. 395) cannot be cooked ahead. Warm the sauce, grill the kidneys, and prepare the serving dishes first; the eggs are the final movement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 195g)
Calories
330 calories
Total Fat
24 g
Saturated Fat
12 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
615 mg
Sodium
800 mg
Total Carbohydrates
4 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
24 g
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