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I recently found a recipe for making a monster egg... i think it may have been medieval. The recipe required 6 eggs for yolk and white. the yolk and whites would be separated into 2 pigs bladders and respectively poached.

I would like to attempt recreating the recipe.

I don't have access to pigs bladders, or at least I have no desire to use one. Is there anything anyone could recommend? I wondered about sausage casings but they aren't circular/egg shaped.

It would also be very cool if I could make the egg a shell. I am unsure what material I could do this with... I’m imagining a savoury version of a thin meringue... is there even such a thing? or is there something better suited? and how might this casing be cooked or attached? (In my mind I'm imagining blowtorching the meringue, baked alaska style... however, I don't think this results in a crisp casing.)

On request from Jefromi, here is an edit: I would like to discuss how a giant egg might be created in the simplest way possible, that looks and tastes like an egg, albeit large.

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  • Does the recipe indicate what the final result should be like? Are the yolks and whites somehow reassembled after the separate poaching?
    – Cascabel ♦
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 2:57
  • I can only assume that the recipe creates an impression of a giant egg, so that the hosts could prove their talent and prestige to their awe inspired guests, at their having attained or created this magical object.
    – abbc
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 11:22
  • Jefromi, looking at the answer, Fuzzy chef gave me , the poaching of the yolk in the whites seems more likely. (tbh i have not got the recipe on me, i read it while researching extreme recipes in history, this somehow fixed itself in my mind) However, to avoid overcooking, and making something that might actually taste good. perhaps its possible, to boil the bag of whites and the yolk bag separately, and then cut the white open, when its set, and carve a hole in the centre to place the yolk bag. Then somehow reassemble.... and adhere with tooth picks ?!
    – abbc
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 11:28

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I would suggest finding a heat-resistant balloon of some sort, or a relatively spherical plastic bag, or even a round bag made from linen muslin. You steam the yolks in a small balloon, then cut it away once they're set. Then you immerse this yolk in the whites, in a bigger balloon, and once again steam/boil this until set, and cut away the outer balloon. This is based on one version of the Giant Egg recipe, where the egg parts were cooked in bottles which were then broken away.

If you want a shell, then your instinct for meringue, probably cooked with a blowtorch, might work, although it would be hard to avoid browning. If you want something white, I'd suggest piping (and smoothing) royal icing in coils until you shell the whole egg. This will dry quite hard and then can be cracked away for dramatic effect.

Note, though, that the monster egg won't be terribly good to eat. The yolk will be way overcooked, as will the outer layers of the white, and pretty much certainly the yolk will have sunk to the bottom of the whites before they set. And, ultimately, it's just a giant boiled egg. The purpose of this dish, like many other showpieces, is to be seen and not necessarily eaten.

Thanks for a fun and very original question, though! And if you make it, send me a picture.

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  • Thanks FuzzyChef this is useful info. I did wonder about separately poaching the eggs. thinking about the consistency of a poached egg white its fairly, 'gelatanous', yet quite solid. I'm wondering if its possible to slice it in half, and carve a hole in its centre for the already poached yolk bag. AND yes i must make this, I need it for a project in a gallery in london... for a larger meal filled with strange delights. So somehow or other it needs to work!
    – abbc
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 11:36
  • regarding the royal icing, Which i think is a GREAT idea, I had also wondered about caramelising sugar, like the top of a creme brulee. This isnt something I have tried to make myself, but the crack of a creme brulee surface is quite sublime, even if it would create a brown shell.
    – abbc
    Commented Oct 22, 2017 at 11:40
  • well,the problem with hard-carmelized sugar is that would require torching it on the surface of the egg. so first you'd need a thick layer of sugar to stick, and then you'd need to torch it without burning the egg or making it peel away. And then the resulting surface would have a gold/brown appearance with black flecks. Wouldn't be my first choice.
    – FuzzyChef
    Commented Oct 27, 2017 at 0:51
  • As for carving a hole in the whites ... try it and see? I'd be concerned that you wouldn't be able to get the two halves of the while to join up seamlessly. Maybe cut a hole from the bottom, hollow out, and then replace a plug?
    – FuzzyChef
    Commented Oct 27, 2017 at 0:53
  • Oh, one concern about the royal icing: it occurs to me that the egg white will weep a bit if it sits for a long time which could soften the royal icing. Not sure how to prevent that.
    – FuzzyChef
    Commented Oct 27, 2017 at 0:55

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