Polignac Moulded Eggs

Œufs moulés Polignac (Polignac moulded eggs) teach the discipline of gentle heat: the egg must set enough to stand when turned out, yet keep a tender white and yielding yolk. The truffle should appear on its crown, the buttered toast should keep its edges crisp, and the sauce should fall in a glossy coat. The one true thing to know before you touch the pan is this: the water of the bain-marie (hot-water bath) must barely tremble.

The original assumed a saucier with melted meat glaze ready, a stockpot never cold, and ranks of Baba-moulds. It called for no salamander, because nothing here is gratinéed. Those are brigade scaffolding, not the dish: this version serves four from small dariole moulds, and one cup of unsalted, gelatin-rich stock reduces to the glaze required. The book’s exact ratio remains intact, three tablespoons of glaze to one-quarter pound of Maître-d’Hôtel butter. What must stay is the truffle floor, the moulded poach, the round of toast, and that particular sauce.

Once the water settles to a barely visible tremble, everything else is assembly. One cook, one stove, one evening. Guard that poach, and the ceremony takes care of itself.