TIME TO FEAST Giovanna Ryan on cooking with eggs

Cook’ s note

You could let the milk steep overnight if you’d prefer a stronger saffron croissants for brioche bread instead.

A Good Day To Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi (£22, Quadrille). Photography by Laura Edwards

Chef and food writer Giovanna Ryan shares her picks of the month

ONE INGREDIENT, THREE GENIUS USES Pankobreadcrumbs

breadcrumbs, the Japanese version and texture to fried and baked dishes… Follow the Add texture

S H O P S M A L L B U Y W E L L

Madetoorderusingtraditional methods,PastaioaMano ’ spasta iswildlydifferentfromstandard supermarketfareandwellworth theinvestment.Thefounder SimonusesUK-growngrains andiscommittedtosustainable andregenerativefarming practicesaswellasworkingwith othersmallfoodbusinesses. Findoutmoreatpastaioamano.com

THIS MONTH, I’M LOVING… EGGS

Trying to write a column on eggs is like trying to fit the entire history of the worldonto thebackofanapkin,buthere goes… Almost every food culture across the globe uses eggs at the centre of its cooking and, to many, they are the symbol of new life,wealth andprosperity.Eggs are indispensable in the kitchen as a breakfast staple, raising agent, emulsifier, binding agent, thickeneroracatch-allforleftovers.

I’ m fascinated by the science of eggs. HaroldMcGeehasawholechapter devoted to them in his classic book OnFood andCooking, which deals with everything fromhowan egggrowsinsideabirdto proteincoagulationandegg-beating techniques. However, most home cooks need justafewbasicprinciples.First, get thebestyoucanafford. Eggs vary wildly in quality, fromtheinsipid, watery ones from battery-farmed hens,tobuttery yolked specimens from free-roaming ones. If you ’ re lucky, you ’ll have a source of just-laid eggsfromyourowngardenorviaagenerous neighbour. Use the freshest for eating and oldest for baking. The proteins in older eggs will have stretched, making them easier to separateandwhipto voluminous peaks, but impossible to poach without falling apart.

Egg boiling is a much-discussed topic, mainly because thereareso manyvariables and everyone has their own preferred method.To getthat lovely just-cooked jammyyolk,I plopa largish egg at room temperature straight into boiling water for sevenminutes. If youwant todipsoldiers into it,goforsixminutesandif youwant a bit more structure for an egg mayo sandwich, boil for eight. Once they ’ re boiled,ifyou ’ renotgoingtoeatthemstraight away, try storing in a mix of soy and vinegar with a pinch of sugar and salt – perfect with ramenorrice dishes orsimply snackedon from the fridge with a little chilli oil.

The mainstay of many an ‘ emergency ’ meal, eggs are idealfor bringing together disparate ingredients languishing in the fridge.Leftovervegetables,herbsandother ingredientsaremiraculouslytransformed into deliciousfriedrice,frittatasortarts with the addition of a few eggs.

I often end up with a surplus of either yolks or whites, depending on recent cooking activities. Both can be frozen or kept,coveredin thefridgeforacoupleof days,butthey startto lose theirproperties afterawhile.Excess yolkscanbe used in mayonnaise or other egg-based sauces, custards orcarbonara, orcuredin salt for a few days. Meringues are an obvious use forthewhites alongwith madeleines and macarons, or you could use them to make homemadegranolaor–less wholesome but just as delightful – whisky sours.

For Giovanna’s supper clubs and butchery company, see cookandfeast.co.uk