Where did they go?
Lost eggs – or as they´re called in Swedish, förlorade ägg – come in two types. Lost, and totally lost. The totally lost eggs – helförlorade ägg – are what you would normally call poached eggs in English. That is, eggs that have been boiled without their shell in a pot of water with a dash of vinegar.
Lost eggs have been prepared in the same fashoin, but you cook them in less water so the white doesn’t form around the yolk in the same way as if cooked in a deeper pan. Much easier to succeed with if you find ordinary poached eggs challenging, as I do.
This recipe is from a well known Swedish cookbook published in 1911, Iduns kokbok by Elisabeth Östman. It is long out of copyright and available on-line at Projekt Runeberg. Translation is by me.
Why are they called lost eggs? Well, I haven’t actually found any references to that but I imagine it was someone who one day was standing next to a pot of boiling water cracking eggs and accidentally dropped one in and discovered it cooked well.
“Eggs are one of our most nutritious and easily digestible foods. It is also one of those foods that, despite it often high enough price, has the greatest use in cooking.One of the hallmarks of a healthy egg is that it should be clear and without stains, when held up against a burning candle in a dark room.“
Lost eggs from Iduns Kokbok
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ättika spirit vinegar can be used
Instructions
- In a well-cleaned skillet, pour water to 2 cm. depth; 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. vinegar is added.
- When the water boils, crack one egg at a time gently into a cup and slowly slide into the water, which should just barely boil.
- When the white has solidified, the eggs are picked up with a spatula and immersed quickly in cold water to remove the foam.
- They are polished with a drinking glass and served as a breakfast dish, laid out on fried wheat bread slices, or as garnish for others dishes.