Recipe: How to Poach an Egg

• Use a pot, not a frying pan. Fill the pot with 10-12cm of water and bring to a rolling boil.
• Add a splash of vinegar — any type will do, I even use balsamic if I do not have a white vinegar or lemon juice. The vinegar helps set the white and make it more white.
• Add a pinch of salt. (Optional, I do not bother).
• With a slotted spoon, create a whirlpool with the boiling water.
• Take the eggs from the fridge. Crack them directly into the pot, no more than 4 at a time — any more will chill the water down too much and it will stop boiling. With the spoon, keep the whirlpool going.
• Fresh eggs will sink a little in the boiling water. The white should also stay attached to the egg. If it falls away, the egg is not fresh but you can still eat it.
• While the eggs are cooking, put the toast on the plates and lay the bacon on the toast.
• Using the slotted spoon, remove the eggs (some people trim the white to make the egg look more perfect) and place on toast and bacon.
• Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

When they're in season, serve your eggs with tomatoes, cut into quarters and pan-fried in butter for 5 minutes or until just tender but not turning to a mush.

Storage of eggs

Eggs will last longer if kept in the fridge. For poaching, I will use directly from the fridge but for baking, you need to bring them out 30-60 minutes beforehand to come to room temperature.

To poach eggs for a large group

You can pre-poach eggs and put them into a water-bath (bowl) of cold water until needed. To warm through, put them in simmering water for 20-30 seconds and serve. This is how large hotel kitchens cope with poached eggs en masse.