Eggs, and Lunching

Learned a couple of things over lunch yesterday, and being the generous soul that I am, I thought I would share. Much of this concerns boiling eggs, which to me are one of nature's most sublime gifts (along with clouds and light breezes), full of goodness despite the cholesterol controversy, voluptuously beautiful and pregnant with a wealth of erotic metaphors in their admiration, preparation and general experience. Simply, one could not be near an egg without thinking unclean sorts... in a clean sorta way.

I love eggs for the shape of the shell, for which I am at a loss for words to describe, beyond “perfect”, “sublime”, “mmm”; the shocking luminosity of “sunny-side up” which lights up a morning better than a kiss; the fluffiness of the rice wine infused egg white that forms the soft bed of a steamed crab; the rich taste and texture of the yolk, the way this seduces one's sense of taste, touch and smell in the mouth, before doing wonderful things to my head as it is swallowed. Does one wonder that the definitive cinema sex scene etched on my mind is the one in Tampopo... not when the chap jabs his tongue up his lover's arm, but when they are engaged in passing a yolk between their mouths... that is until the woman climaxes, whereupon she collapses into wordless convulsions, inadvertently breaking the yolk, which subsquently wells out of her mouth. Oh, boy.

But back to the lessons:

A: the best way to boil an egg, so the membrane separates from the shell and peels cleanly, is to start with a fresh egg. Put some salt into water, boil it, then lower the egg inside. Do not boil the water with the egg inside. The egg comes after. Then when you think it's done (see “B”), take the egg out, and run it under cold tap water. Peel.

B: to determine whether an egg has been hardboiled, try to pick up the egg from the boiling water with a pair of chopsticks. If this proves impossible, it means the insides are still liquid. If otherwise, it means the egg is done. Return to “A”.

And then I as I ate, I also reflected on what a fine time I was having, compared to the day before, when I ate on my own at the very same place. I was reminded yet again on one of the principles i hold about food... that ambience and company has somewhat to do with it also. You can order any fine dish so long as you have money and it's on the menu (granted, in some places, one must also wear a tie); but good company -- now that is much trickier. It took the establishment quite a few centuries to realise/accept that the earth was not the centre of the solar system, that the sun did not orbit the earth, but indeed it was the other way round. Individuals don't live for centuries. They have much less time to learn that the world does not revolve around them. What does this say? What connection there be between self-centredness and good company for lunch? Surely, come to your own conclusions.