Could ‘Steam-Poaching’ Be the Next Big Thing in Eggspresso Perfection?

For a short time in 2009, eggs scrambled with steam wands was all the rage. We can trace this back to a modest restaurant review from Jessica Lee Binder, the creator of Food Mayhem.

Scrambled eggs, of all things, were the highlight of Binder’s 2009 brunch at Gottino, a salumeria and enoteca in New York’s West Village. She raved:

Normally, I don’t order scrambled eggs at restaurants. I figure it’s easily made at home, but I will probably come back time and time again for Gottino’s scrambled eggs ($9). They are the most perfect, melt on your tongue, creamy and tasty eggs ever. It says Steamed Scrambled Eggs on the menu. Do you think if I beg Jody Williams, she will teach me how she does this?

Chef Williams obliged, sharing her innovative “steamed eggs” method: eggs, butter and a dash of sea salt beaten together in a porcelain vessel, then gently swirled while being scrambled by the steam wand of an espresso machine.

Fast-forward to April 2014, and James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Dorie Greenspan encountered scrambled eggs so delectable they trigger obsession:

When I heard that Buvette in NYC made eggs with their espresso machine’s steam wand, the one normally used to make cappuccino, I was intrigued. When I tasted the eggs, I was obsessed. The eggs are soft, fluffy and delicious, in the way the best gently scrambled eggs are. In part because the eggs themselves are very good, and in part because even the ordinary is elevated when it’s drizzled with olive oil, speckled with parmesan, set on a bed of grilled oil-rubbed country bread and served with top-drawer prosciutto. I had one of these eggs for breakfast at Buvette and then had Buvette-style eggs again, at home, for breakfast and dinner.

If I weren’t on the road, I’d have them again, right now.

Here’s the thing about Buvette: It is owned by Jody Williams.

Scrambled eggs at Buvette NYC.

While Williams is clearly the authority on steamed scramblers, we now submit the “steam-poached” egg, courtesy of Roast Magazine friend and obsessive brewing tinkerer Frans Goddijn. On his Kostverlorenvaart blog, Goddijn says he regularly will use a small, wand-fitting hole in a plastic container to make applesauce from sliced apples, or to reheat leftovers. Says Goddijn:

Now I found that it is very easy to prepare an absolutely delicious ‘steam poached’ egg in the same way. An egg poached in water can taste a bit watery but this way the egg keeps its own clean quality.

Frans Goddijn’s “steam-poached” egg.

Here is video of Goddijn’s perfectly poached (steamed) egg, requiring only a steam wand (Goddijn’s comes from his Londinium I lever machine), a plastic container, a small dish, salt and pepper.

Voilà.