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Module 05: Eggs and Dairy

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Eggs are the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen. This module covers egg chemistry, every major egg preparation technique, custards, crème brûlée, and the fundamentals of dairy and cheese.

Table of Contents

  1. Overview
  2. Prerequisites
  3. Objectives
  4. Theory
  5. Key Concepts
  6. Examples
  7. Common Pitfalls
  8. Cross-Links
  9. Summary

Overview

The egg is the most chemically sophisticated ingredient a cook regularly encounters. A single egg contains proteins that coagulate at precise temperatures, fats that emulsify sauces, and a structure that can trap air (meringue), bind (meatballs), enrich (custards), leaven (choux pastry and cakes), coat (breadcrumbed items), and glaze (egg wash). Understanding egg chemistry unlocks the science behind dozens of preparations across both cuisine and patisserie.

Dairy — milk, cream, butter, and cheese — provides fat, protein, and sugar in concentrations that make it the other indispensable culinary building block. The fat content of cream determines whether it will whip; the protein content of milk determines how it behaves in custards and sauces; the cultures in cheese determine its flavour profile and texture.

[!IMPORTANT] This module is a stub. Full theory, examples, exercises, and test will be written in a future update.

Prerequisites

  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/01_introduction]] — heat science; the danger zone
  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/03_stocks-and-sauces]] — the nappe concept; Hollandaise as an introduction to egg emulsification
  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/04_cooking-methods]] — poaching and gentle heat techniques

Objectives

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

  1. Explain the coagulation temperatures of egg white (albumen) and egg yolk proteins, and why they differ
  2. Produce a perfect French-style rolled omelette, a scrambled egg (French and English styles), and a correctly poached egg
  3. Make a crème anglaise to the nappe stage (82–84 °C) without scrambling the yolks
  4. Make crème brûlée: correct custard ratio, water bath baking technique, and caramelising the sugar top
  5. Whip cream to soft, medium, and stiff peaks and explain the structural changes at each stage
  6. Describe the fat content ranges of milk, single cream, double cream, and their culinary implications
  7. Identify at least six cheese categories (fresh, soft-ripened, semi-hard, hard, blue, washed-rind) with one example of each

Theory

STUB — Full theory to be written. Topics to cover:

  • Egg anatomy: white (albumen — mostly water and ovalbumin protein), yolk (emulsifiers: lecithin; fats; proteins; colour from carotenoids)
  • Protein coagulation: egg white proteins begin to set at ~62 °C; yolk proteins at ~70 °C; this is why soft-boiled eggs have set whites and liquid yolks
  • The emulsifying power of egg yolk: lecithin is the key emulsifier enabling mayonnaise, hollandaise, and custards
  • Egg preparations: scrambled (French — low heat, constant stirring, creamy curds; English — higher heat, larger curds), fried (sunny-side up, over-easy), poached (gentle simmer, fresh acid water), omelette (French rolled, American flat)
  • Custard science: a custard is a gel formed by egg protein coagulation in a milk/cream medium; ratio affects firmness (more egg = firmer); sugar raises the coagulation temperature
  • Baked custard: crème brûlée uses a water bath (bain-marie) to moderate oven heat and ensure gentle, even setting without curdling
  • Crème anglaise: poured custard; must not exceed 84 °C; the nappe test
  • Cream: fat content determines functionality — single cream (18–20% fat) will not whip; whipping cream (35%+ fat) whips by trapping air in fat globule network; double cream (48%+ fat) whips faster and holds better
  • Butter: an emulsion of water droplets in fat; 80–84% fat; beurre noisette (brown butter) and beurre noir (black butter) are flavoured variations
  • Cheese categories and production principles: fresh (ricotta, chèvre), soft-ripened (brie, camembert), semi-hard (gruyère, edam), hard (parmesan, aged cheddar), blue (roquefort, gorgonzola), washed-rind (époisses, taleggio)

Key Concepts

  • Coagulation — the irreversible setting of proteins when heated; the mechanism behind every egg preparation and custard
  • Crème anglaise — poured egg custard sauce; cooked to nappe (82–84 °C); foundation for ice cream and dessert sauces; see [[culinary-patisserie#glossary]]
  • Nappe — the consistency at which a sauce coats and holds on the back of a spoon; see [[culinary-patisserie#glossary]]
  • Bain-marie — a water bath used to moderate oven heat for delicate baked custards; ensures temperatures never exceed 100 °C
  • Lecithin — the emulsifier in egg yolk; enables stable emulsions in hollandaise, mayonnaise, and custards

Examples

STUB — Examples to be written:

  • Annotated recipe for perfect French scrambled eggs
  • Step-by-step crème anglaise with temperature guidance
  • Crème brûlée: full recipe with bain-marie baking and sugar-caramelising technique
  • Crème Chantilly (whipped cream): three stages explained

Common Pitfalls

STUB — Common pitfalls to be documented:

  • Scrambling a crème anglaise (temperature too high; no tempering of egg yolks with hot milk)
  • Omelette overcooked (eggs set to rubbery; correct technique requires high heat and speed)
  • Cream over-whipped (passes stiff peaks → butter stage)
  • Custard not set in bain-marie (water bath too shallow; oven too hot)
  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/03_stocks-and-sauces]] — Hollandaise: the egg-yolk mother sauce
  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/07_pastry-fundamentals]] — egg yolks in pâte sucrée; egg wash
  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/08_chocolate-and-confectionery]] — ganache uses cream from this module
  • [[culinary-patisserie/modules/09_desserts-and-plating]] — crème brûlée is the bridge between this module and Module 09
  • [[culinary-patisserie#glossary]] — crème anglaise, nappe

Summary

STUB — To be written on full module completion.

  • Egg white proteins set at ~62 °C; yolk proteins at ~70 °C — the basis for every egg preparation technique
  • The French omelette requires high heat and speed; the scrambled egg requires the opposite (low and slow)
  • Custards are egg protein gels; the ratio of egg to dairy determines texture from pourable sauce to sliceable tart filling
  • Crème anglaise must be cooked between 82–84 °C; above this, it scrambles; below this, it is unsafe and unset
  • Cream must have at least 35% fat to whip; whipping creates a foam structure that collapses if over-beaten