Egg mimosa

Mimosa. I know this brings to mind a cocktail of champagne and orange juice, as well as the fluffy yellow flowers of Spring. But oeuf mimosa is also a bistro (or should I say, canteen) classic, to be found on the menu of all good traditional restaurants. And, yes, quite often, in the cafeterias of schools, offices, and motorway cafés.

I now collect an organic box every week from a local organization that helps people find jobs through gardening and agricultural activities. Last week, for Easter, customers could order coloured hard-boiled eggs from a local farm. This week, surprise, surprise, each box had a 6-pack of coloured eggs in it. I thought they should go asap, as they were probably boiled ten days ago. Finding myself with an opened jar of mayonnaise, a quite unusual item in my household, I thought of making an egg mayonnaise sandwich for lunch, then thought better of it and made oeuf mimosa. The simplicity of it! The nostalgic mouthfeel!

You just mash most of the yolk with mayonnaise, then fill the cavity of the egg white with this, sprinkle the leftover yolk, some ground pepper and voilà! Memories refreshed and made better because, even though I don't make my own mayonnaise (which, for two eggs would me madness anyway), this was much better than the stuff they use in canteens.

Did you know that there's a huge difference in terms of mayonnaise sold over the world? The French versions are not sweetened, they're sharpish. You can buy it made with olive oil, or lemon juice, and there's always, always mustard in it.