The Mango Egg

Last week I went to a street party 'The Art of being British' in Jermyn Street. This street runs behind Fortnum and Mason's and is parallel to Piccadilly.

There are some interesting shops and restaurants there and several of them were taking part.

There was a cookery demonstration by Andrew Turner the chef from the Wilton. I arrived towards the end as he was plating up.

The plate was decorated with some mango puree, next a slice of fried brioche then a small egg. I thought it might be a quail's egg or had it been had by the lesser spotted mango bird? They were available to buy so I placed my order and watched as the chef prepared the next batch.

These eggs had not been laid by any bird and I was intrigued to see how it it was made. The idea was originally hatched up in Spain by Ferran Adria at El Bulli the home of molecular gastronomy and the process of spherifiaction.

This 'egg' had the texture of a poached egg complete with runny yolk. If I hadn't known already what it was made of I think the flavour would have contradicted the appearance and texture, however it made a lovely dessert. Both the yolk and the white were firm on the outside. The brioche was spiced and the egg topped with popping candy.

The recipe and the process of spherifiaction are to be found here

There were also complementary canapes from the Ritz. The ones in the photo below are like mini ice cream cornets though not sweet and topped with a swirl of smoked salmon pate

They also had a dance band and some smartly dressed dance partners available for a twirl.
Have a look on you tube here