I have a confession to make. I’m not doing a very good job of supporting the local vendors in Sainte-Foy-La-Grande, with the notable exceptions of market day and croissants from our favourite boulangerie on Rue Victor Hugo. We’re no different from anyone else in that the recent financial crises haven’t made life any easier or affordable. So, instead of doing the bulk of our shopping in town, we tend to use the supermarkets on the outskirts for the bulk of our needs.
Last Saturday I decided that we needed some more eggs – we had Mo and Robin staying with us and Eggs Benedict, which is a Sunday and Christmas morning favourite for us, was on the menu for the following morning’s breakfast. Clearly fresh eggs from the market were called for. I bought half-a-dozen from the chicken stall in Place de la Mairie. Extra-large, free range eggs.
The following morning I toasted slices of day-old pain (I prefer it to American “English Muffins”, which is the traditional base), sliced the tail end of Saturday’s jambonneau and set a big saute pan of lemon water to boil to poach the eggs while the Hollandaise simmered away in a bain marie at the back of the hob.
When the water was ready I took the first egg and cracked it against the side of the pan. It wouldn’t give, so the back of a knife was judiciously applied instead. Carefully, I dropped the egg into the swirl of water and noticed as I did so that it was a double-yolked egg. Four of the remaining 5 eggs were also double-yolks – an unusually high proportion. We were all amazed. Sadly, as our camera disappeared from our luggage between Tortola and St. Martin, I can’t provide photographic evidence of this phenomenon.
The eggs, and their accompaniments, were yummy. I bought 6 more today. Not for the expectation of more double yolks, but for their superb flavour. Madame at the counter wasn’t at all surprised when I told her; in fact, she completed my sentence for me and advised that, while it doesn’t happen every week, they’re quite accustomed to it. They will make wonderful soft-boiled eggs with Marmite soldiers for tomorrow’s breakfast, double yolks, or not.