The Incredible Edible Egg

My first real encounter with a soft runny egg was after a near death experience.

Kara and I were camping at the Cascades D’ Ouzoude among the Atlas Mountains in Morrocco at a little Berber campsite at the bottom of the waterfalls. The sky suddenly looked ominous, and the weather rapidly started to descend upon us. As we sat in our camp beds, I peeked outside our tent to see that the cascades had gone from a nosebleed flow to a full-on psycho gush of a murder scene. The trees were doing ninety-degree yogic side bends and the piercing thundering sounds had me squeezing my friend in a way I had never hugged a friend ever before.

Even though our campground had been completely flattened by a micro-hurricane, the family who owned the site still insisted on making us a hot dinner that evening. Under a dim candlelight in a damp tent, they presented us with a glowing frying pan of tomatoes, roasted peppers and fried, runny eggs. We ate with fervour and laughed. “What was this amazingness before us?!” I later discovered it was a traditional Berber dish called Shakshuka. This meal, with the egg being the starring actor, was by far one of the most delicious things I had ever tasted.  Maybe it was the emotions of the circumstances that lifted this dish up on a pedestal, but it is amazing how a glimpse of death can make you peer at life in a new way. My eyes had been opened.

Up until that eureka moment I would happily take a fluffy scramble or perhaps a veggie omelette-however, a runny yolk made me wary in the wake of its’ raw beauty. But there was always something inside of me that wanted my freak flag to fly with an egg because we were secretly always meant to be.  Yorkshire pudding is and has always been one of my favourite foods. I have worked years on perfecting my recipe and I will make a roast beef dinner just as an excuse to rip open and devour a steamy, fluffy pud.  I fall hard for a meringue, Roman carbonara and French toast for the eggy flavour that they offer up.

One of my favourite ways to eat an egg is in the form of a taco. Not only do stars align for an egg and salsa combo, but true love happens when you fold it all into a warm tortilla and top it with lots of garnishes. In the US, great Mexican food and access to intricate ingredients is standard. But in the UK, one needs to plan to source specialty items in order to create an authentic dish. With a Mexican inspired breakfast, you can obtain genuine flavours whilst using standard kitchen ingredients.

There are a million ways to prepare and eat eggs and there always seems to be a new trending dish on the horizon. It probably has to do with osmosis and the fact that more people are turning to a meat-free diet. But there is also such cyclical symbolism in the basic egg. It literally gives life, it can be the star in breakfast, lunch or dinner and it also enables so many foods to be what they are, to be better, to be incredible.

In celebration of the incredible edible egg, here is my recipe for breakfast tacos.  

Breakfast Tacos with Salsa Fresca, Quicky Pickled Onions and Easy Fresh Tortilla

Makes 8 small tacos:

For the filling:

8 eggs

1 can of refried beans

Coriander leaves to garnish

Crumbled feta to garnish

Hot sauce to garnish (such as Cholula or omit)

Lime wedges

For the pickled onion:

1 small red onion finely sliced

¾  Tspn flaky sea salt

1 ½ Tbspn vinegar (cider or red wine)

In a small bowl add the onion and salt.

Scrunch the onions all over with your fingers mixing vigorously so that the salt really coats the onion.

Add the vinegar and scrunch mixing more with your hands.

Set aside.

For the salsa fresca:

2 vine Ripened Tomatoes, chopped

½ small red onion peeled and halved

½ small garlic clove

Juice of ½ lime

1 small handful of coriander (leaves and tender stems)

½ jalapeno pepper seeds removed and halved (optional)

Salt to taste

Finely chop or food process all the ingredients.

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Using a sieve with a bowl underneath add the salsa fresca and leave for a minute or two so the liquid drains and the pulp is remaining. Set pulp aside in a bowl.

For the tortillas

155 grams flour

6 Tbspn hot water

2 Tbspn fat or oil *

¼ Tspn salt

Mix the ingredients in a bowl and knead until smooth ( 5 minutes) by hand.

Divide the balls into 20 gram (or 8) portions and roll into small balls. Let rest for 10 minutes.

With a rolling pin and some extra flour for dusting, roll them out into small 13 cm diameter round tortillas.

Cook in a hot non-stick pan for about 30 seconds per side until they brown and puff up. Set aside.

Reheat in the pan when you are ready to eat. 

* You can use duck fat, goose fat, lard, bacon fat or oil if you are vegetarian. Personally, I love duck fat.

For the tacos:

Fry or scramble the eggs.

Add a scant spoon of refried beans to the warm tortilla spreading it over the middle.

Add your egg, salsa fresca, pickled onion, coriander, feta crumbles, hot sauce and serve with lime wedges.

Tuck in and have lots of paper napkins within reach.

Jenny is “The Salty Chilli” an obsessive cook and food writer who lives in Moseley.

To read more check out her Instagram @thesaltychilli, her blog www.thesaltychilli.com .