Posted on November 24, 2010 by Biblioklept
Vladimir Nabokov’s recipe for eggs à la Nabocoque —
Boil water in a saucepan (bubbles mean it is boiling!). Take two eggs (for one person) out of the refrigerator. Hold them under the hot tap water to make them ready for what awaits them. Place each in a pan, one after the other, and let them slip soundlessly into the (boiling) water. Consult your wristwatch. Stand over them with a spoon preventing them (they are apt to roll) from knocking against the damned side of the pan. If, however, an egg cracks in the water (now bubbling like mad) and starts to disgorge a cloud of white stuff like a medium in an old fashioned seance, fish it out and throw it away. Take another and be more careful. After 200 seconds have passed, or, say, 240 (taking interruptions into account), start scooping the eggs out. Place them, round end up, in two egg cups. With a small spoon tap-tap in a circle and hen pry open the lid of the shell. Have some salt and buttered bread (white) ready. Eat.
V.N. November 18, 1972
http://biblioklept.org/2010/11/24/vladimir-nabokovs-recipe-for-eggs-a-la-nabocoque/
Eggs à la Nabocoque celadon style
Remembering seeing this handwritten recipe addressed by Nabokov to Maxime de la Falaise for her cooking book at the NYPL ( New York Public Library).
I recently visited that very PA Dutch Amish farm were this egg came from. For a historical review of the sickness mess we are in, see these comments.
http://flickriver-lb-1710691658.us-east-1.elb.amazonaws.com/photos/nycandre/4684025954/
Oeufs à la Nabocoque
Dossier - par Vladimir Nabokov dans Mensuel n°379 daté août 1999 à la page 55 (182 mots) | Payant
Faire bouillir de l'eau dans une casserole quand des bulles apparaissent, c'est que ça bout !. Prendre dans le frigo deux oeufs quantité pour une personne. Les passer sous l'eau chaude courante pour les préparer à ce qui les attend. Les placer l'un après l'autre dans une cuillère, et les faire glisser silencieusement dans l'eau bouil-lante. Consulter sa montre. Se tenir au-dessus d'eux avec une cuillère prête à les empêcher de heurter les fichus bords de la casserole ils ont tendance à rouler. Si malgré tout un oeuf se fissure dans l'eau qui bout maintenant comme une enragée en commençant [...]http://www.magazine-litteraire.com/mensuel/379/oeufs-nabocoque-25-08-1999-22275
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