Put an egg on it

More specifically, a fried egg "à la familia de David"

Happy Wednesday! Before diving into today’s newsletter, I want to share with you my excitement over being featured in the Kitchen Cupboards series over at ingredient by Rachel Phipps. Rachel is one of my favorite writers here on Substack, so I was extremely excited and honored when she asked me to participate. You can check out the article below:

Kitchen Cupboards #3: Kiki, Come como Kiki

Thanks again, Rachel!!

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According to my mother, I had a complicated relationship with food as a child. The story goes that I ate all the foods

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before going to Kindergarten, when my tiny tastebuds went off the rails and would only be satisfied by corn dogs and canned peaches (foods of the gods). In the Before Times, my mom says, I loved eggs. She would make them sunny side up, so that I could dip little sticks of toast in the still-runny yolks. My mom would tell this story fairly frequently throughout my childhood, and each time I would look at her incredulously, because ew eggs yuck. Give me a peanut butter sandwich and I’ll be on my way, thankyouverymuch.

I honestly don’t think I touched eggs again until college. My foray into egg-dom was largely due to perceived peer pressure from my sorority sisters; brunch was served at our house every Friday, including scrambled eggs, and if everyone else was eating them, why shouldn’t I? I decided they were actually pretty good, and this acquiescence evolved into me looking up how to make scrambled eggs for myself and making them my staple breakfast the summer after my second year at the university.

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I still wouldn’t eat eggs any way other than scrambled, though.

Over time, I grew to like other egg preparations. I still had a problem with different egg textures; for example, I only liked my egg yolks runny, and rubbery egg whites grossed me out. Eggs weren’t something that I ate regularly—except for brunch trips with my friends in Chicago—but I could tolerate and even enjoy them.

Then David made me a fried egg and changed everything.

Not the first or last fried eggs made for me by David. This version tops toast and is served with slices of fried chorizo (on the left) and lomo (the type of cured meat pictured on the right). Oh and the eggs are drizzled with hot sauce, because why not?

Thanks to modern technology, I was able to scroll through pictures and old Whatsapp conversations to find out when this first fried egg was eaten: summer of 2014, on my first trip to Madrid. David had actually mentioned this type of egg months before:

“You’ll have to try fried eggs à la española,” he commented. “Well in reality they aren’t à la española. More à la familia de David haha.”

Fast forward to June 2014, when I do try the eggs for the first time, and immediately become obsessed (I know I say “obsessed” too much, but this time it’s true—keep reading for the evidence).

So how do you make a fried egg à la familia de David (ALFDD)?

1. Heat at least a couple inches of extra virgin olive oil in a pan. We typically use either a cast iron skillet or a wok. You can try using less oil, but there’s a greater chance that the egg will stick, or not expand as much. Also note that olive oil is very cheap for us here in Spain, so you can also substitute another oil if it's more expensive where you live (vegetable or sunflower oil should work, although the flavor profile will be different, of course).

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2. Separate the egg, leaving the white in a shallow bowl or plate (you can keep the yolk in the shell, but I think it’s easier to put it in a small bowl).

3. Add a pinch of salt to the egg white.

4. With a butter knife (or a fork), cut the white several times. This is going to help the white expand when it hits the oil. Make sure to literally make a cutting motion; don’t whisk the white as this will add too much air.

5. Once the oil is hot, pour the egg white into the pan. It will bubble up and expand, but then shrink some while cooking.

6. Using a spatula, toss a bit of the hot oil from the pan on top of the white to toast the top. Optionally, you can flip the white to make both sides extra golden and crispy.

7. When the white is your desired color, carefully slide the egg yolk on top so that it sits more or less in the center.

8. Toss a bit more of the oil on the yolk to heat it/slightly cook it. Don’t leave it more than 30-45 seconds; you want the yolk to be super runny.

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9. Remove the egg from the pan and place on a plate. Top yolk with a bit of Maldon sea salt, and pepper or additional seasonings if desired.

The final product is a crispy egg white with a runny yolk, basically the best of both egg worlds (or at least in my opinion).

A picture of a fried egg after being cut. Note the runny yolk (and also the fact that there’s another egg mixed into the mound of homemade fries).

The great thing about these eggs is that they make basically every dish better. Besides on their own, here are some of the ways we eat them:

• On top of toast

• With garlic-infused white rice (a simple but delicious recipe for another day)

• With homemade French fries

• To top migas, talked about a bit and pictured here

• On top of congee-inspired soup, as seen at the bottom of this post

• With albondigas (meat balls)

• To replace any normal fried egg that’s called for in a recipe

• On top of pisto

Spring Fried Barley from Smitten Kitchen with—you guessed it—a fried egg ALFDD

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The problem with fried eggs à la familia de David is that once you try them, you can never go back to regular fried eggs. You’ll find yourself scoffing at the ones served to you at restaurants, because they don’t even come close.

You think I’m joking, but I looked back at our Whatsapp history and I mentioned making the fried eggs ten times from July-December 2014—and those are just the times that I happened to name them in our chat; I’m sure there were more (there are certainly more chat mentions in the following years). In fact here’s a screenshot of a real conversation with David:

Oh, look, my other obsession! Soup

See? Even David says it. Best eggs ever.

Let me know if you give them a try!

Do you like fried eggs, or do you prefer another way of preparing them? Any fun tricks for eggs or favorite fried egg recipes? Comments are open below!

Hasta la próxima!

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Ki

1. On the origin of the All the Things meme: If you’ve never seen the website Hyperbole and a Half that gave rise to this meme, you really have to check it out. My other favorite comic from the site is this one called The God of Cake. Allie Brosh has also written two very funny books in the same webcomic style.

2. Have you noticed a pattern of me latching onto foods and eating them over and over again? I’ve (somewhat, sort-of) grown out of that.

3. On using olive oil: We also strain and reuse our oil, a common practice here in Spain.

4. On cooking the egg yolk: Obligatory note that eating undercooked eggs poses a risk, so proceed at your own caution.

5. Hasta la próxima: Until next time