HEALTH COACH - The latest Instagram food insanity is in fact ancient centuries: salt: NPR

HEALTH COACH -

 The latest Instagram food insanity is in fact ancient centuries: salt: NPR  









Eggs of walnuts: it is not only Instagrammers who find them pretty. The 17th century chiefs also supplied them. So, as now, they were supposed to impress.



Maria Godoy / NPR


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Maria Godoy / NPR





 



 Eggs of clouds: it is not only the Instagrammers who find them pretty. The 17th century chiefs also supplied them. So, as now, they were supposed to impress. 


Maria Godoy / NPR





 It is seemingly unavoidable on Instagram these days: yellow photos of bright yellow eggs nestled in a cuddly bed of egg whites, like the sun framed by clouds wavy. They are called cloud eggs, and they are pretty enough to resemble a taste of paradise ... which is probably why people get them obsessively and share their images on social networks. 
 
 Yet, the latest diet of the day is actually a modern turn on a recipe for nearly 400 years. 
 
 "They are essentially a very, very old dish." It is essentially something called Eggs in Snow, which the French have been doing for centuries. And it is suddenly removed on Instagram, "says Daniel Gritzer, the culinary director of Serious Eats.  The cook François  a seminal cookbook published in 1651, as well as the  He indicates a recipe for  Eggs to the Snow  (eggs in the snow) France was beginning a revolution In the kitchen that will make it the culinary leader of the world for centuries. 
 
 Modern cloud eggs are simple to make, but they are sophisticated. The recipes vary, but basically you take an egg, separate the whites and the egg yolk, beat the whites in a rigid foam and season to taste. Then you push the foam into a cloud shape on a baking sheet covered with parchment, leaving a hollow in the middle for the egg yolk and drop it into the oven at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. In some versions, the yellow goes to the oven at the same time as the whites; In others, whites cooking first for a few minutes, then the yellow is added and everything is cooked for a few more minutes. Cooking times vary, but recipes usually call for about 5 to 6 minutes in total. 


 The 17th century version was baked a little differently: instead of hand mixers or whips, the chefs used packets of finely divided sticks. The egg mousse and the egg yolk were placed on a buttered dish and baked coals instead of an oven. The whole thing was heated from the top with a cooking tool called salamander - basically, a hot shovel was retained on the plate. (Think of it as a 1600s version of a butane kitchen torch or a form of controlled toasting.) It was served with a little sugar. Today, the name "snow eggs" (or "snow eggs") refers to a different dish: a dessert made of meringue poached with sweet milk and served with a custard. (This is a French classic and was the favorite of the famous gastronomic writer Craig Claiborne.) But the snow eggs described in this recipe 1651 were essentially the same as the cloud eggs, agrees Paula Marcoux, historian of the 39 Food that specializes in re-creating recipes using cooking techniques from the era. 







The food historian, Paula Marcoux, decided to follow the 1651 recipe for snow eggs, using the cooking tools of the period he was calling. Instead of an oven, she placed the eggs on a buttered dish on hot coals and heated it over by using a hot scoop called a salamander. The result was surprisingly delicious, she said, and yes, they are basically cloud eggs.



Courtesy of Paula Marcoux


  hide the legend  




  tipping the legend  




Courtesy of Paula Marcoux





 



 Food historian Paula Marcoux decided to follow the recipe for 1651 for snow eggs, using the cooking tools of the period he called. Instead of an oven, she placed the eggs on a buttered dish on hot coals and heated it over by using a hot scoop called a salamander. The result was surprisingly delicious, she said, and yes, these are basically cloud eggs. 


Courtesy of Paula Marcoux





 Like the eggs of clouds today, says Marcoux, the recipe of the 17th century was probably an innovative dish intended to impress. "This is just one of those things that the rich have done to amuse ... as today". 



 
 And the leaders of the time were also beginning to unravel the mysteries of the science of cooking. "The seventeenth century  people understand how protein works - these are the first phases of what becomes fine French cuisine," explains Marcoux. 
 
 Nowadays, chefs know that when you beat an egg white, you are participating in a biochemistry cookie. The whites of eggs are mainly liquid, but they are full of proteins. When they are beaten, these proteins unfold and bind together, creating a structure. 
 
 "They are starting to organize in a network, like a network, as they bind and lengthen," says Gritzer. This structure traps the air introduced by beating, and also keeps the water in the whites of eggs in place. The result is foam.  
 
 This is a touch of cooking magic that has fascinated cooks for centuries. 
 
 "Even in 19th century America, people were excited," explains Marcoux. And later, "In the 1950s, people were crazy to make meringue pies. This is almost something that home cooks use as a kind of demonstration. We see this happening in the generation after generation of cooks at home. "


 In my kitchen at home, I gave the cakes of the eggs to the clouds. On their own, they are pretty but bland. But a stroke of salt and pepper, a mixture of Sunny Paris spices (purple sprouts, chives, dill, basil and pepper, among others) and a generous sprinkling of grated and grated cheddar, all folded in the mousse Before cooking, fixed things well. 
 
 Regarding the equivalent of the 17th century cloud eggs? It was surprisingly delicious, said Marcoux. My questions aroused her curiosity, so she approached the recipe of 1651 using historically accurate tools - hot shovel and everything. She had been skeptical in advance, but "it was as delicious as stupid! She reported. 
  So if you encounter cloud eggs in the wilderness Internet, instead of asking you, while  The Washington Post  recently published "Uh , Why is this one thing? " Just know that the answer is: Because we are human and there is little new under the sun, not even the eggs of the clouds. 
 
  Maria Godoy is a senior editor with NPR and host of The Salt. It is on Twitter: @mgodoyh.