—Christopher Roeleveld (designer) and Sam Cholke (journalist), founders of foodcrypt.com

Photography, ceramic egg dish and coffee cup by Christopher Roeleveld.

MFK Fisher’s fantastic book of winding and eloquent WWII ration-era recipe’s “How to Cook a Wolf”, is in many ways a constant inspiration to us. Introducing the chapter “How Not to Boil an Egg” she writes, “one of the most private things in the world is an egg until it is broken.”
In that vein we present two fringe egg recipe’s: one, by Christopher, from the same chapter in Fisher’s book, and another by Sam, from his own research.

Eggs Obstaculos, a variation of Eggs in Purgatory, from “How to Cook a Wolf” by MFK Fisher

2 tablespoons butter or oil
8 eggs
¾ cup hot tomato suace (I use 1 can of diced or plum tomatoes with a tablespoon or two of Valentino hot sauce. Add garlic or thyme if you like).
8 eggs
1 cup beer
hot toast

Heat oil and sauce in shallow dish, rolling it well around the edges. When bubbling, break eggs into it. Heat slowly until the eggs are done, pour the beer over, and serve at once, with hot toast.

Egg Coffee

9 cups water (to boil) plus 1 1/4 cold water
3/4 cup freshly ground coffee (medium to coarse grind)
1 egg

Bring water to a rapid boil and add coffee and mixture of 1 cracked egg and 1/4c water. Add it carefully, as not to let it boil over. Boil for three minutes. The proteins in the eggs will start to magically adhere to the coffee, creating a clump of stuff that should float to the top. After 3 minutes remove from heat and add 1 cup of very cold water. This should make the mass of coffee grounds/egg fall to the bottom. Give it about 10 minutes to precipitate. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a pre-heated caraffe and serve.

Foodcrypt.com is a blog founded by Sam Cholke, Christopher Roeleveld and friends. Foodcrypt is interested in the grotesque, absurd, unhealthy and delightful reverberations of our love of eating.