This is a picture of a gulls egg. They are curious things, gulls eggs, rare, seasonal and expensive. They have been considered a delicacy in our funny little island for centuries, almost certainly because one cannot expect to eat them more than once a year. I was thrilled to find just three left in Source yesterday, carefully cocooned by the fresh mint. They were so very pretty, a stone blue heavily speckled, and surprisingly dense for such a small egg. I was entranced and spent quite a lot of money on them. The ever charming Mr. Wheatcroft recommended nothing but celery salt and extreme care, and I would be loathe to to ignore him. Had you seen me yesterday trying to hurry carefully home it might have caused some amusement.
They seemed rather wild items in my kitchen. I was informed that one serves these little eggs hard boiled (indeed they often are sold pre-boiled, props to Source for having more faith in the culinary ability of their customers) so into a little pan one went, brought to the boil and simmered for seven minutes. Peeled, the 'white' seems a little blue and less firm than a chicken egg. The yolk is the colour of Kraft Mac 'N Cheese. Really. The flavour is quite earthy, lifted by the celery salt, and really shows the contrast between domestic and wild eggs. The flavour is fuller than a chicken or duck egg, and lingering, which is why the second egg I cooked today was followed by a couple of Wye Valley asparagus spears, which I think makes this extraordinary little delicacy quite a charming light spring lunch.
If you can get hold of these eggs I recommend them, not least because they will make you sound knowledgeable, and we all like to indulge in that fantasy from time to time. Two traditional ways to serve them are as the beginning of a lunch served hard boiled in a large bowl with pots of celery salt and some mustard cress or on individual plates, one peeled and one unpeeled, with the aforementioned seasoning and leaf. At such a gathering I recommend full formal attire, Homer quotations and extreme champagne induced drunkenness.
