What is Roast Egg

This roast egg with the wry smiley face really is mine. My first attempt to roast an egg.

Roast eggs are all the rage and I had never heard of a roasted egg, let alone tasted one. Straight away I consulted my Granny's trusty and ancient cookbook - nothing. I just had to find out more. My first question was simple enough - "What is a roast egg?" Not a boiled egg, not a baked egg but a roast egg. My second question was partly answered by the first one: "How do you roast an egg?".

Once I found the answer to these questions a third sprang to mind - "why on earth would anyone want to roast an egg?" Well, I found the answer to this one too and I thought I'd share my adventures with roasted eggs with you. Did I crack it?

I can't say it was a roaring success eggactley, but take a look a look at my roast egg recipe - a recipe for an explosive success ora recipe for failure? Was I left with egg on my face?

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1. Hard boil eggs and roast in the oven
2. Roast raw eggs in the oven
3. Hard boil eggs and roast over a gas flame
4. Hard boil eggs and roast in the grill
5. Roast in a fire or wood burning stove

Whether you are going to have roasted eggs or boiled eggs you'll be delighted with this little egg piercer. A cheap little lovely that I use all the time to stop my eggs cracking (boiled) or exploding (roast).

Having tried the other methods (see below) I had a go at roasting my egg in my wood burning stove. I tried roasting boiled eggs and raw eggs and this is what I did:

First, I put my hard boiled egg into the warm ash at the side of the stove but this didn't really do the trick, so I put it much closer to the flames - though not actually in the flame - and I cooked it for about thirty minutes. Result - disaster. Charred and rubbery.

I tried again, this time a bit further from the flames and for about twenty minutes turning the egg frequently. Result? Better. My roasted egg was hot, was roasted and smoky but still just a boiled egg. Why roast it?

It would be a great idea to roast RAW eggs like this. so I used my egg piercer to prick both ends of the eggs (otherwise they explode) and did the same. I left it in for twenty minutes, again turning it to ensure even cooking, and when I took it out it was beautifully cooked - exactly like a boiled egg. Of course the timing is tricky - how close to the flame is the egg? How hot is your stove?

These tongs are super-useful for lots of other things in the kitchen. I bought a pair after watching Jamie Oliver on TV use them all the time.

I try not to splash the cash on useless gadgets but I thought, "Why am I struggling to turn over my veg or meat in the pan when I could have a pair of kitchen tongs." I went ahead and invested in them. Very worth while!

Hardboiled and raw

If you don't have a stove you can roast the eggs in the oven.

Hardboiled eggs: Heat the oven to 325. Put the eggs on the rack in mid-oven and put the eggs straight onto it and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove eggs and if you are not going to eat immediately, plunge into cold water to stop them continuing to cook.

Raw Eggs: do the same but prick both ends of the eggs and cook for about twenty minutes or until the egg begins to crack.

Put the hard boiled eggs on the grill and when it starts to sweat begin to turn it for 10 to 12 minutes. Like the stove egg, it should have a nice smoky smell and taste.

In my opinion "NO"

Now eggs are roasted for Passover, as part of a religious feast (see more below) and that is one thing, but is it worth roasting an egg just for a change? I say "NO".

My lack of enthusiasm may have come about through lack of talent - I might not have roasted my eggs very well - but it seemed to me that I began with a delicious hard boiled egg and ended up with a slightly smelly roasted hard boiled egg.

There is one exception (apart from the religious feast of course) and that's if you have a raw egg and no pan or water or oil or oven to fry, bake, boil, coddle, poach or otherwise cook your egg.

How could this happen? In my case if I ran out of gas during a power cut and was without a pan, I might well be stumped when it comes to cooking my eggs for tea. I do have a wood burning stove though, and I could use that. Highly unlikely that this would arrive. But suppose you are camping? Roast your eggs around the camp fire - perfect!

Do look out for more of my egg recipes for breakfast - as soon as I can make the pages.

Why roast an egg?

I don't really think the roast egg is an egg recipe for breakfast. It is part of a religious feast.

Passover is the freedom holiday celebrating the flight (or exodus) of the Jewish people from Egypt. If you remember the story the Jews were captured and used as slaves by the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II.

For eight days, or if you live in Israel for seven days, you'll celebrate The Seder, a family feast with your family and friends. It is a symbolic feast and the food that is served has symbolic meanings that are reminders of this joyful time in Jewish history.

The food is served on the special Seder Plate. The roasted egg, or the Beitzah is also served on the Seder Plate. It is burnt and charred to symbolises the biblical sacrifice that was made in the temple in Jerusalem. As with the pagan egg and the Easter egg, the egg is a symbol of life, birth and fertility.

Cooking programmes harmless? We might think so but look at it from an egg's point of view.

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