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Egg: A Culinary Exploration of the World's Most Versatile Ingredient
In this innovative cookbook, James Beard award-winning author Michael Ruhlman explains why the egg is the key to the craft of cooking.
For culinary visionary Michael Ruhlman, the question is not whether the chicken or the egg came first, it's how anything could be accomplished in the kitchen without the magic of the common egg. He starts with perfect poached and scrambled eggs and builds up to brioche and Italian meringue. Along the way readers learn to make their own mayonnaise, pasta, custards, quiches, cakes, and other preparations that rely fundamentally on the hidden powers of the egg.
A unique framework for the book is provided in Ruhlman's egg flowchart, which starts with the whole egg at the top and branches out to describe its many uses and preparations -- boiled, pressure-cooked, poached, fried, coddled, separated, worked into batters and doughs, and more.
A removable illustrated flowchart is included with this book. Nearly 100 recipes are grouped by technique and range from simple (Egg Salad with Tarragon and Chives) to sophisticated (nougat). Dozens of step-by-step photographs guide the home cook through this remarkable culinary journey.
For culinary visionary Michael Ruhlman, the question is not whether the chicken or the egg came first, it's how anything could be accomplished in the kitchen without the magic of the common egg. He starts with perfect poached and scrambled eggs and builds up to brioche and Italian meringue. Along the way readers learn to make their own mayonnaise, pasta, custards, quiches, cakes, and other preparations that rely fundamentally on the hidden powers of the egg.
A unique framework for the book is provided in Ruhlman's egg flowchart, which starts with the whole egg at the top and branches out to describe its many uses and preparations -- boiled, pressure-cooked, poached, fried, coddled, separated, worked into batters and doughs, and more.
A removable illustrated flowchart is included with this book. Nearly 100 recipes are grouped by technique and range from simple (Egg Salad with Tarragon and Chives) to sophisticated (nougat). Dozens of step-by-step photographs guide the home cook through this remarkable culinary journey.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
142 people are currently reading
760 people want to read
About the author
Michael Ruhlman
49 books356 followersMichael Ruhlman (born 1963 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American writer. He is the author of 11 books, and is best known for his work about and in collaboration with American chefs, as well as other works of non-fiction.
Ruhlman grew up in Cleveland and was educated at University School (a private boys' day school in Cleveland) and at Duke University, graduating from the latter in 1985. He worked a series of odd jobs (including briefly at the New York Times) and traveled before returning to his hometown in 1991 to work for a local magazine.
While working at the magazine, Ruhlman wrote an article about his old high school and its new headmaster, which he expanded into his first book, Boys Themselves: A Return to Single-Sex Education (1996).
For his second book, The Making of a Chef (1997), Ruhlman enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, completing the course, to produce a first-person account -- of the techniques, personalities, and mindsets -- of culinary education at the prestigious chef's school. The success of this book produced two follow-ups, The Soul of a Chef (2000) and The Reach of a Chef (2006).
Ruhlman grew up in Cleveland and was educated at University School (a private boys' day school in Cleveland) and at Duke University, graduating from the latter in 1985. He worked a series of odd jobs (including briefly at the New York Times) and traveled before returning to his hometown in 1991 to work for a local magazine.
While working at the magazine, Ruhlman wrote an article about his old high school and its new headmaster, which he expanded into his first book, Boys Themselves: A Return to Single-Sex Education (1996).
For his second book, The Making of a Chef (1997), Ruhlman enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America, completing the course, to produce a first-person account -- of the techniques, personalities, and mindsets -- of culinary education at the prestigious chef's school. The success of this book produced two follow-ups, The Soul of a Chef (2000) and The Reach of a Chef (2006).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 13, 2014
If for some reason you find yourself in possession of a large amount of eggs then this just might give you some ideas with what to do with it. Each chapter deals with a different way to make the eggs, some sections are recipes for only part of the egg and some with white and yolk used separately. The book is also photo heavy to show each step of the prep. Is this the cookbook to keep forever and ever? No I don’t think so but it is a good one to check out for pointers and ideas.
June 10, 2014
I haven't yet cooked from this, but I have flipped through it. The most valuable thing isn't so much the recipes as the ratios -- he'll give a recipe for 4 and explain how to modify it for one. Since a lot of egg dishes don't really make very good leftovers, this is useful for those of us who live alone.
October 31, 2014
Michael Ruhlman does it again. This book is beautiful and so chock full of useful information that the recipes almost seem superfluous. And then there is the Egg Chart. I checked this out of the library, but I have decided I need to own this book.
October 14, 2014
Everything egg. From every way of cooking the egg to it's use in baking, the recipes are clear and detailed with good color pictures included. This book would make a wonderful gift for the beginning cook. Because the egg is the most essential home cooking/baking ingredient, this book is worth purchasing as you would probably use it frequently for the many, many recipes.
April 21, 2015
Amazing!
I doubt think I've ever enjoyed reading a cookbook so much. Ruhlman's enthusiasm and nonchalant grace in presenting some of the wonder the egg humbly holds in potential is affecting. I'm excited about trying most of the recipes he presents so elegantly quite soon.
I doubt think I've ever enjoyed reading a cookbook so much. Ruhlman's enthusiasm and nonchalant grace in presenting some of the wonder the egg humbly holds in potential is affecting. I'm excited about trying most of the recipes he presents so elegantly quite soon.
May 27, 2014
With eight hens in our backyard, it's a rare day when my boys don't gather at least six eggs. They have a few regular customers who buy a dozen every couple of weeks, but more often than not we have a couple of full egg cartons sitting on the shelf in our frig. When I heard an NPR brief about a new cookbook all about eggs, I knew I had to take a look.
Michael Ruhlman has written a 220+ page love letter to this "Rosetta stone of the kitchen." Organized by a flowchart indicating how the egg is used - whole, separated, in the shell, out of the shell, just the yolk, just the white - this cookbook explores the myriad of uses for the humble egg. Starting off simply, with a basic hard-boiled egg, Ruhlman describes all of the variables that factor into the finished product and all the options of how to get there. Did you know you can bake an egg in the shell to "hard-boil" it? Or cook it in the ashes of a fireplace? Or in a pressure cooker? (The best method to make them easy to peel, as it happens.) Nonetheless, Ruhlman recommends this straightforward method:
Simple, right? And I've had perfect results every time.
Then there's soft-cooked eggs and - I learned a new vocabulary word - mollet eggs (in which the white and part of the yolk are solid but the yolk's center is still fluid), deep-fried eggs cooked by cracking an egg into boiling oil and shirred eggs baked in direct heat instead of a boiling liquid. And that's just the beginning.
To read the rest of this review, visit Build Enough Bookshelves.
Michael Ruhlman has written a 220+ page love letter to this "Rosetta stone of the kitchen." Organized by a flowchart indicating how the egg is used - whole, separated, in the shell, out of the shell, just the yolk, just the white - this cookbook explores the myriad of uses for the humble egg. Starting off simply, with a basic hard-boiled egg, Ruhlman describes all of the variables that factor into the finished product and all the options of how to get there. Did you know you can bake an egg in the shell to "hard-boil" it? Or cook it in the ashes of a fireplace? Or in a pressure cooker? (The best method to make them easy to peel, as it happens.) Nonetheless, Ruhlman recommends this straightforward method:
Put cold eggs in a pan in one layer, cover them with water by about 1 inch, and put the pan over high heat. When the water comes to a full boil (at least 209F), cover the pan, remove it from the heat, and let it sit for 15 minutes. Remove the eggs to an ice bath (half ice, half water) until they're completely chilled, at least 10 minutes but preferably longer, giving the water a gentle stir every now and then to keep the cold circulating.
Simple, right? And I've had perfect results every time.
Then there's soft-cooked eggs and - I learned a new vocabulary word - mollet eggs (in which the white and part of the yolk are solid but the yolk's center is still fluid), deep-fried eggs cooked by cracking an egg into boiling oil and shirred eggs baked in direct heat instead of a boiling liquid. And that's just the beginning.
To read the rest of this review, visit Build Enough Bookshelves.
August 8, 2014
PREVIEW many pages of EGG online or at library/bookstore and avoid the mistake of buying. It is one star or less. The pictures are pretty but you are buying a cookbook not a book for the coffee table.
EGG is poorly written and needs massive editing. The "story" part reads like ESL and some of the recipes have ridiculous wording and are missing key steps. When you get over the language and style issues, there is not much new or enlightening except use a slotted spoon to make Pretty Poached Eggs.
p12 "a gratuitous amount of butter" (wrong word and not a measurement) https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=...
p20 toast already buttered toast (fire hazard in traditional toaster) and another "gratuitous amount of butter" and "after a happily drunken Sat night" (style issue)
p50 verbose like the book in general - to increases thickness without adding value
p69 "equivalent of our actual debasing" http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio...
p75"binding device" (wrong phrase) and specifically recommending LATEX gloves in 2014?
p110 verbose, unclear language
p139 no explanation whether the FRESH veg like corn should be cooked first; this is just one example.
p166 pathetic fallacy - "long night of bibulous partying" (wrong word plus style issue) https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=...
p172 "crosses its fleshy arms in anger" (pathetic fallacy)and "please don't desecrate... with vanilla..." (wrong verb;arrogant) https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=...
Good books entertain, educate, and inspire - and more. This book misses the mark.
December 24, 2014
Ruhlman has thought of every use for an egg. There is a 5ft long flow chart to prove that he has covered all the bases. The introductory text is entertaining and I found the recipes to be very easy to follow. There are even two egg cooking techniques quoted from Twitter.
After reading this book, I felt the chef really enjoyed food and cooking. It was all fun for him. It would be nice to have this book at hand every weekend morning -- just to sample a new recipe and start the day happy.
Note: Uses millimetres and grams, translated to cups etc sometimes.
After reading this book, I felt the chef really enjoyed food and cooking. It was all fun for him. It would be nice to have this book at hand every weekend morning -- just to sample a new recipe and start the day happy.
Note: Uses millimetres and grams, translated to cups etc sometimes.
May 30, 2014
Beautiful photos, high quality paper and an overall nice book. My takeaway is the recipe to make perfect hard boiled eggs: put them in cold water, bring to a boil in super slow heat, as soon as the boiling breaks, turn down the heat and wait for 18 minutes. Then, place the eggs in iced water until completely cold. Make sure they are cold in the smallest time possible. The book says they end up cooked to perfection. I will try this today and we shall see...
July 31, 2015
In "Egg", Ruhlman takes the simple egg and demonstrates why it truly is not only "the most versatile ingredient", but also one of the most magnificent. Through the multitude of recipes, he shows how the egg can play both the lead role or the supporting character in every dish from breakfast to dessert.Very little in this book was new to me, nor will it be to any experienced cook, so don't buy it looking for information unless you are a beginner. If you own classic cookbooks, you have it all.
August 2, 2014
This was a good cookbook. I walked away with several recipes. A number of them were pretty complicated or required extensive preparation.
This book was divided into 6 sections with the eggs prepped in several ways. What I liked most about this is that the author did give photos for each step of the preparation of the heavier duty recipes.
This book was divided into 6 sections with the eggs prepped in several ways. What I liked most about this is that the author did give photos for each step of the preparation of the heavier duty recipes.
November 12, 2014
Such an attractive book. Filled with information about the egg including basics like varied cooking methods, sauces, and then recipes. It also has a folding poster of the family tree of the egg and it's cooking methods which is interesting. If I didn't already have a very good book on eggs on my bookshelves, I would probably get this one.
July 30, 2014
Very specific but interesting cookbook. Their method for Hardboiled eggs resulted in perfect pastel-yolked lunch treats.
December 30, 2022
3 stars, finished
i think the fact that i borrowed this recipe book from the library rather than being able to have it on hand when i'm cooking made me struggle to find a use for it, as most of it was small tips or recipes that you could whip up if you were hungry but not something that i personally would really seek out. the titular fact that the egg makes this a somewhat overwhelming cookbook as it's trying cover all meals, all cuisines, and all preparations. the tips sounded helpful and interesting, but i only found a few recipes that i'd actually be interested in trying out sometime soon.
i think the fact that i borrowed this recipe book from the library rather than being able to have it on hand when i'm cooking made me struggle to find a use for it, as most of it was small tips or recipes that you could whip up if you were hungry but not something that i personally would really seek out. the titular fact that the egg makes this a somewhat overwhelming cookbook as it's trying cover all meals, all cuisines, and all preparations. the tips sounded helpful and interesting, but i only found a few recipes that i'd actually be interested in trying out sometime soon.
March 20, 2023
I love eggs so much- sweet, savory, fried, baked, streamed, etc.
This book is great and had some lovely cooking tips, but the organization was a little silly- brownies next to shrimp tempura? Because they both use whole eggs as an ingredient? Ridiculous.
I did not bookmark any recipes to make, but I would own a copy if I ever have chickens again.
This book is great and had some lovely cooking tips, but the organization was a little silly- brownies next to shrimp tempura? Because they both use whole eggs as an ingredient? Ridiculous.
I did not bookmark any recipes to make, but I would own a copy if I ever have chickens again.
May 28, 2023
When Michael Ruhlman writes about a topic, he goes deep. So it isn't surprising that he has written a book just on eggs - cooking methods and recipes using eggs, yolks, and/or egg whites. He explains the basics like the timing for a soft-boiled egg, the technique for a lovely poached egg, and homemade mayonnaise (it's actually not that difficult).
July 4, 2019
I LOVE EGGS
February 12, 2020
disappointing . read joy of cooking instead
July 6, 2020
Ruhlman techniques are always winners
September 2, 2020
Fun map of the book, interesting way to divide it. Interesting recipes, but we didn't make many.
June 8, 2021
Some really good recipes for eggs and I learned some more uses/recipes for them.
August 8, 2022
Such a cool book! Shows the many, many ways eggs are used in cooking
October 9, 2015
Almost completely exactly what I was expecting. I'd thought there might be a little more science in here--a little less how-to and a little more why-to. It's mostly recipes--great recipes, I'm sure--covering all the ways to prepare an egg, or parts of it, and all the varied flavors and textures that result. I'm not saying there's no science at all, I just wanted more.
There's not much mention here of the difference in taste and quality between commercially raised eggs (hens in cages, indoors, fed on corn and antibiotics) and pastured eggs (free range, outdoors, fed on corn and juicy bugs). Only a half-page inset about nutritional differences. All I can say is that I poached a farm fresh egg last night without bothering to strain the loose white, which he insists is a necessary step, and got a perfect round package with a deep gold yolk, no strings attached. And it tasted great.
One of the two recipes I'm going to try is a quiche. normally the simplest of dishes, this one is fussy with roasted red pepper and a handmade crust. He calls for "cured Spanish chorizo" but doesn't specify what that really means. I can go to the store and buy chorizo--I usually have a choice between hot and hotter, but it's not going to be cured, it will be Mexican not Spanish, and it won't look at all like his pictures. So I can be assured it will neither taste like his chorizo or have the same texture.
There's not much mention here of the difference in taste and quality between commercially raised eggs (hens in cages, indoors, fed on corn and antibiotics) and pastured eggs (free range, outdoors, fed on corn and juicy bugs). Only a half-page inset about nutritional differences. All I can say is that I poached a farm fresh egg last night without bothering to strain the loose white, which he insists is a necessary step, and got a perfect round package with a deep gold yolk, no strings attached. And it tasted great.
One of the two recipes I'm going to try is a quiche. normally the simplest of dishes, this one is fussy with roasted red pepper and a handmade crust. He calls for "cured Spanish chorizo" but doesn't specify what that really means. I can go to the store and buy chorizo--I usually have a choice between hot and hotter, but it's not going to be cured, it will be Mexican not Spanish, and it won't look at all like his pictures. So I can be assured it will neither taste like his chorizo or have the same texture.
September 15, 2014
I get 12 eggs a week in my CSA so I thought this would be useful and it is. That's all.
January 12, 2015
Now added to my resources shelf. Need to get a genuine book copy soon.
July 31, 2014
One of the most beautiful books I've ever read. Gorgeous photos of the recipes, and great commentary about the egg as an ingredient. Great recipes, this is a book I'd love to own.
October 29, 2014
Since trying to embrace Paleo, I eat a lot of eggs and this cookbook is the most comprehensive I've ever seen for just eggs. Lots of delicious, must-cook recipes.
October 5, 2014
Butter cream frosting, crime brûlée, homemade pasta dough... I would be so fat trying every recipe in here!
Want to read
August 12, 2015TX 745 .R83 2014 COCC Had for a few months but need to return. Hope to look at someday.
Read
November 23, 2018What a lovely book!
Totally inspired me to explore the multifaceted possibilities of the egg.
Totally inspired me to explore the multifaceted possibilities of the egg.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews