Old-fashioned Delia Smith egg mayonnaise is her favourite starter of soft-centred boiled eggs under a garlic mayonnaise, with cornichons and olives, and it serves 6. You boil 9 eggs for 6 minutes, then halve them and spoon the mayonnaise over 3 halves a plate. The whole thing takes about 30 minutes, including about 10 for the mayonnaise.
This card follows How to Cook Book Three (published 2001, page 166). The same amounts appear on her website and in her Vegetarian Collection (2002, page 46), and the mayonnaise uses 275ml of groundnut oil only. For the full method and the fix if it curdles, follow her mayonnaise recipe, then come back for the eggs.
An older way, on page 86 of the 1992 Complete Cookery Course, puts 1 or 1½ eggs per person on sliced dill pickle. Thin strips of anchovy and black olives go on top. Her Summer Collection (1993, page 115) has a twist on the same idea too, with poached eggs under a green watercress sauce.
Delia Smith Eggs Mayonnaise Starter
Eggs boiled just long enough to keep the yolks soft, halved and topped with her garlic mayonnaise, cornichons and small olives.
6
servings24
minutes6
minutes350
kcalIngredients
- For the eggs:
9 large eggs
18 medium cornichons (baby gherkins), sliced lengthways
about 18 small black olives
- For the mayonnaise:
2 large egg yolks
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 heaped teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon salt
freshly milled black pepper
275ml (10fl oz) groundnut or other flavourless oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons boiling water (optional, for a lighter mayonnaise)
Directions
- Bowl: Stand a medium mixing bowl on a damp tea cloth so it stays still, and measure the oil into a jug.
- Season: Put the yolks in the bowl with the garlic, mustard powder, salt and a little pepper, and mix them together well.
- Oil: Whisk in the oil one drop at a time with an electric hand whisk. When the mixture turns very stiff and lumpy, whisk in the vinegar to thin it.
- Finish: Add the rest of the oil in large drops, whisking all the time. Taste and season, and whisk in the boiling water if you want it lighter.
- Boil: Put the eggs in a pan of cold water and bring them up to the boil. Boil them for 6 minutes.
- Cool: Cool them fast under cold running water, then leave them in cold water for about 2 minutes. Peel them, cover them with clingfilm and keep them somewhere cool until needed.
- Serve: Halve the eggs and put 3 halves on each plate. Top them with a heaped tablespoon of mayonnaise and add the cornichons and olives.
Notes
- Her note under the recipe: a couple of anchovies per person, laid criss-cross over the mayonnaise, also go well.
- Leftover mayonnaise keeps for up to a week in a screw-top jar in the fridge.
- The UK Food Standards Agency says British Lion eggs are safe to eat raw, and that covers the yolks in the mayonnaise.
FAQs
Which eggs peel best?
Eggs at least 5 days old from their packing date peel best for egg mayonnaise, because very fresh eggs are hard to peel. Delia calls this her number one rule, on page 17 of How to Cook Book One, published in 1998.
To peel them, tap each egg all over first. Then peel off the shell under a slow trickle of cold water, starting at the wide end. The water washes away any bits of shell.
How long should the eggs boil?
Six minutes of boiling gives these eggs the soft, slightly squidgy centre that Delia wants. In this recipe the eggs start in cold water, and the 6 minutes count from the boil.
Her 1998 egg lesson adds that 7 minutes cooks the yolks right through. Her Complete Cookery Course asks for eggs not quite hard in the middle, so stay with 6.
Why is there a dark ring round the yolk?
A dark ring round the yolk means the eggs went on cooking after they came out of the pan. Her 1998 lesson on boiling eggs (page 17) says that eggs which are not cooled fast go on cooking and become overcooked.
So run the cold tap over them for about a minute, then let them stand in cold water for 2 more minutes.
Can I use bought mayonnaise?
Yes, bought mayonnaise works for egg mayonnaise, but Delia rules out salad cream. The 1983 printing of her Complete Cookery Course (page 75) adds a few strips of anchovy when the mayonnaise comes from a jar.
Making her own takes only about 10 minutes with an electric whisk, though.
How do I make an egg mayonnaise sandwich?
To make an egg mayonnaise sandwich her way, mash 6 boiled eggs while still warm with a good knob of butter. Then add 4 teaspoons of mayonnaise, season, and stir in 2 heaped tablespoons of very finely chopped spring onion. It fills bap rolls for 6.
This is her picnic filling in the 1992 cookery course (page 464). The 1983 edition (page 509) used snipped chives instead of spring onion.
Can I use pickled cucumber instead of cornichons?
Yes, pickled cucumbers work instead of cornichons, and Delia offers both at the top of the recipe. Slice them thinly, the way her older version lays the eggs on sliced dill pickle.
Small black olives go alongside either way. She likes the tiny black olives from Provence best.
