You can scramble them, fry them, bake them, boil them. But my preferred way to enjoy this rich, nutrient-dense, and endlessly versatile food is to poach them in barely simmering water until the whites are just cooked and the golden yolk, when pierced with a knife, flows out to create a luscious sauce. Almost anyone can cook an egg, but to cook one to elevate it to the elegant heights it deserves, one must follow a few simple but important rules:
• The number one rule: Make sure you have the freshest eggs possible. As eggs age, the tight protein structure of the whites begins to break down, causing them to become more watery, spreading quickly into wispy trails when dropped into simmering water. Fresher eggs will have plump whites that hold together better during cooking.
• If possible, seek out cage-free eggs, preferably from organic chickens who are fed a natural diet.
• Storing eggs at room temperature quickens the aging process, so it’s best to keep them refrigerated.
• Cracking eggs into a fine-mesh sieve is a great trick for separating any watery exterior from the bouncy firm inner egg white. If you crack an egg into the sieve and find that the whole white is very watery and weak, rather than firm as it should be, cut your losses and save that egg for another use, as it will never plump up when poached.
• Water temperature is also extremely important when poaching eggs. Eggs are incredibly delicate and can overcook in just a matter of seconds. The cooking water must be at the most gentle of simmers when the eggs are slipped into the water, not a rolling boil, which would toss the egg around, cooking it too fast and tearing apart the white.