What is Eggs in a Basket?
Recently released film, V for Vendetta, starring Natalie Portman is a hot topic in the film world. Aside from the fact that Natalie Portman has a shaved head, and that the movie treads very dangerously on global political grounds, movie-junkies are talking about how the movie, based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore, didn't do its homework, even with such things as what English people eat. Moore said about the makers of themovie that "they don't know what British people have for breakfast, they couldn't be bothered. 'Eggy in a basket' apparently. Now the US have 'eggs in a basket,' whish is fried bread with a fried egg in a hole in the middle. I guess they thought we must eat that as well, and thought 'eggy in a basket' was a quaint and Olde Worlde version. "










Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-24-2006 @ 1:10AM
Moose said...
I'm of Scottish ancestry (parents are both Scottish-born), born in Canada, raised in Belgium and England through about 1980, and I certainly grew up with the occasional toad in the hole, as my folks called it. To see America today, one could reasonably consider an Egg McMuffin and Froot Loops to be typically American breakfast fare, but that discounts pancakes, grits, and a host of regional foods.
An egg fried into the hole in a slice of bread is as English a breakfast as I can recall.
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3-24-2006 @ 5:31AM
Chris Graber said...
Wow, WRONG!
Perhaps in the far flung future the "American" Eggs in the basket has caught on in the UK!! 20 years in the future is a long time. . .
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3-24-2006 @ 8:21AM
nika said...
uuh.. what? I ate eggs cooked in a hole in toast when I was a tiny kid MANY years ago in the deepest darkest parts of the midwest of the USA.
Whats all the uproar?
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3-24-2006 @ 10:17AM
Beth said...
I just realized these were called Eggs in a Basket on a recent trip to Cracker Barrel. I grew up calling them "poppie-eggs" because, well, my poppie always made them for us when we went to visit. memories....
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3-24-2006 @ 2:12PM
Huffy said...
When I was growing up (many moons ago, in my native California), we called this dish "Egg-In-The-Nest". My momma claimed her source was one of Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries; no doubt loyal Fritz fixed such a breakfast for Mr. Wolfe on occasion. Whatever they were called, we children loved 'em.
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3-28-2006 @ 1:16AM
Tommy said...
So...just punch a hole in a thick slice of bread, drop it on some hot oils...crack an egg into that hole and do an all or nothing "flip" to cook the other side?...Did I get that right? If I didn't please let me know. I must confess it did look quite good in the movie V
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3-31-2006 @ 4:17PM
Pat said...
some tips:
Use a sturdy bread for best results (sourdough is rad).
Put a whole in the middle that's perhaps a little bit bigger around than the outside diameter of a beer can.
Put a good pat of butter (real butter tastes better and browns nicer than oil or margarine) in a pan and warm over medium heat.
Wait till the butter starts to froth a bit, then lay down your bread.
Crack an egg into the hole. It should definately have some popping 'frying' type noises, if it doesn't turn up the heat a bit. At this point I like to break the yoke, but do as you please.
When you see that the whites on the bottom side have cooked start pushing your toast around.
As soon as everything slides really easily over the pan get a spatula under the egg part.
You'll hear a few pops from fresh whites hitting the pan, but the entire egg-bread concoction should be pretty solid.
Swiftly but gently flip the thing over.
If you haven't cooked it too long or over too high heat you should now be looking at a pefectly golden brown piece of buttered toast with an egg in it.
Push on the top of the egg until you feel that it springs almost all the way back.
Once you are there, remove and serve.
At this point your whites are fully cooked, your yoke is partly cooked with some parts just set (but not runny), and your toast is perfect.
Serve butter side up, it's much better looking.
I'm just another American guy who grew up with 'eggs in a basket'. Except when I was growing up I didn't know what that particular dish was called. I just knew that my dad would make it and I'd eat it. I later found out that they were called 'eggs in a basket' while I was cooking some and a friend saw me in action.
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4-02-2006 @ 6:20PM
Bill Paxton said...
I own the Graphic Novel of V, including the very first edition of the Warrior comic that it was first intriduced in. I love Alan Moores writing and I will eventually own all of his work.
But I really don't fancy anything else he has to say. Is the UK somehow different than America? Does everyone eat the same meal? Because from person to person and region to region it completely changes in America and I would assume that is the case for the UK. I don't see why he is so offended.
Oh and we don't all eat at McDonalds for breakfast, in fact I don't know anyone who does. I live in a college town and the least popular place is McDonalds. I couldnt even tell you where one was. The vast majority of us, in fact, do NOT eat there. But thanks.
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4-02-2006 @ 9:05PM
Jimmy said...
[V for Vendetta] "treads very dangerously on global political grounds"
I came here for culinary instructions but I thought I'd make a political comment. Who is in "danger"? Sounds like someone has an innate fear of government. As V says in the movie, "people shouldn't fear governments- governments should fear people." That's the whole point of this movie- to get the sheep in the US to wake up to the fact our democracy is slipping away and we should stand up to the bastards trying to keep us in fear so they can grab power and the wealth that goes with it. Mmmmm eggs in a basket. Don't be scared. You have a bill of rights which says you can make movies that criticize your government and if the government tries to break the rules you get into the streets and say no.
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4-08-2006 @ 12:37PM
sam said...
Googled "Eggs in a basket" 'cause of "V" too! They're frying as I type. I liked the movie, but dislike the fear of the kooks who think we're heading towards that kind of government. Terrorism is real, the bird flu is real, totalitarianism is real, but the answer isn't inside the mind of men or women! The answer is in found in a crucified saviour, Jesus Christ.
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4-11-2006 @ 1:12PM
deborah conner said...
What's all this? The point is Evey doesn't recognize the dish -- and we take notice. We note her surprise when she says it's made with real butter: butter is something rare in her world. We start extrapolating. And both Gordon and V make this very dish. Hmm. They've acquired that magical substance, butter. Mysterious. And both must be daring to steal it. How? We also ask -- do they know each other? Their private collections of artwork. Some sort of underground present in their world? There's hope yet! And then there's all these synchronicities, and it all works to keep you plotting. Guessing.
Having all the little ends so neat -- we're beyond that in stories, aren't we? We, as humans, really have no idea where we came from, what made us. Where we were before we were born. Where we go when we die. We're used to making meaning. It's what we do.
Alan Moore, please relax. Art comes to you, and moves to others. It changes and grows. It's spearheads its time. Set it free. After all, that's how it came to you.
And I came here through a google search looking for a graphic of V in an apron. Thanks for the recipe -- and for letting me Vent.
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4-25-2006 @ 6:44PM
JIm the not so azn said...
+I WANT THE GOD DAMN RECIPE U STUPID WHITE F*/6S!!!(not to say if you posted and u were azn or somthing u would be excepted from being A STUPID F**7) pardon that bad typing this girl is in my way making this quite retarded. Oh and i really liked dat movie stuff!!! =) well i hope u enjoyed reading this as much as i hated typing it.
Good Bye
STUPID F===S(heh plural)
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5-11-2006 @ 9:26PM
deborah conner said...
#12. You want the recipe?
1 egg
1 slice of bread
butter
salt
pepper
Butter both sides of the bread and cut a square hole in the middle of the bread. Heat up a frying pan to medium heat. Put bread into the pan to melt butter. Drop a small amount of butter into hole of bread and let it melt. Then drop an egg into the middle and break the yoke. Add salt and pepper to taste and cook until the egg is done.
Serve!
Preparation Time: 3 minutes Serves: 1 each
http://www.netcooks.com/recipes/Breakfast/Egg.In.A.Basket.html
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