Fried Eggs à la Romaine

Œufs frits à la Romaine teaches the discipline of contrast: a crisp white around a flowing yolk, set over tender spinach sharpened with anchovy. The subrics, little oval vegetable cakes, give the eggs structure and absorb the yolk without becoming soft. One thing decides the dish before you touch the pan: the frying oil must be hot enough to seize the white immediately without scorching it.

The original formula assumed a saucier with the reduced binding sauce ready and a fry station turning subrics and eggs together at the instant of service. At home, make the linked subrics as their own finished component, hold eight briefly on a rack, then fry the eggs in small batches. The separate stations were brigade scaffolding and can go; the anchovy in the spinach and the eggs fried in oil are the dish and must stay. One cook, one stove, one evening.

Keep the yolks fluid and the whites just bronzed at their crinkled edges. The anchovy supplies the seasoning beneath them, so taste before reaching for salt. Bring the oil to its proper heat before the first egg meets it, and the rest moves quickly.