Eggs Toussenel

History

Œufs Toussenel (Eggs Toussenel) is a poached- or soft-boiled-egg preparation codified by Auguste Escoffier in Le Guide Culinaire, first published in French in Paris in 1903. As Escoffier printed it, the eggs are poached or soft-boiled ("Pochés ou Mollets"), coated with a coulis of feathered game (coulis de gibier à plume) enriched with one-fifth chestnut purée, sprinkled with chopped truffle, and each egg is set on a feathered-game croquette. The dish therefore belongs to Escoffier's turn-of-the-20th-century professional restaurant repertoire, not to any earlier court cuisine. Beyond the recipe formula itself, the sources consulted do not document who created or ate the dish, the reason for the name "Toussenel," or any social, class, or status significance; on those points the historical record here is silent.

Ingredients

• eggs
• game bird coulis (sauce made from game bird stock and reduction)
• 1/5 of total coulis volume chestnut purée
• truffle, minced
• game bird croquettes

Instructions

1. Poach or soft-boil the eggs. Prepare a coulis (sauce made from game bird stock and reduction) and enrich it with chestnut purée — use one part chestnut purée to five parts coulis. Coat each egg generously with this sauce, then sprinkle with finely minced truffle. Arrange each dressed egg atop a warm game bird croquette and serve.