CHAPTER IV.

EGGS (SAVOURY) AND OMELETS.


EGGS, PLAIN BOILED.--There is an old saying that there is reason in the
roasting of eggs. This certainly applies equally to the more common
process of boiling them. There are few breakfast delicacies more popular
than a new-laid egg. There are few breakfast indelicacies more revolting
than the doubtful egg which makes its appearance from time to time, and
which may be classed under the general heading of "Shop 'uns." It is a sad
and melancholy reflection that these more than doubtful "shop 'uns" were
all _once_ new-laid. It is impossible to draw any hard-and-fast line to
say at what exact period an egg ceases to be fit for boiling. There is an
old tradition, the truth of which we do not endorse, that eggs may arrive
at a period when, though they are not fit to be boiled, fried, poached, or
hard-boiled, they are still good enough for puddings and pastry. There is
no doubt that many good puddings are spoilt because cooks imagine they can
use up doubtful eggs.

When eggs are more than doubtful, they are often bought up by the smaller
pastry-cooks in cheap and poor neighbourhoods of our large towns, such as
the East-End of London. These eggs are called "spot eggs," and are sold at
thirty and forty a shilling. They utilise them as follows: They hold the
egg up in front of a bright gas-light, when the small black spot can be
clearly seen. This black spot is kept at the lowest point of the egg,