Cured eggs with smoke salmon and young salad leaves

Have you ever heard of shaving hard cured egg yolks over carbonara? Have you ever tried it? How did you find it? I find it ridiculous, to be honest, as I prefer my eggs soft. Curing is a technique quite familiar to me, though, so I couldn’t quite let go of the idea of curing yolks. In the award winning, Bernese restaurant BAY, I had the opportunity to try cured egg. The consistency wasn’t firm at all, but rather soft. And the taste was sensational. I knew at that very moment that I needed to replicate that luxuriously intense culinary experience. So I consulted my best friend, Google. And Google referred me to Jess Pryles. My first attempt was quite disappointing: The yolks were way too firm and way too salty. I adjusted the salt-sugar ratio and the curing time. And – voilà – the yolks turned out just the way I wanted. Soft. Gooey. And rich.

Start with the egg yolks, as this step needs some time. Ten hours to be more precise. You can cure them longer, if you like them firmer. For me, ten hours is exactly how long it takes to achieve a perfect texture. Separate the yolks from the whites. In a storage container, create yolk sized pits in a mixture consisting of one part salt and two parts powdered sugar. Carefully place the yolks in the pits and cover with more salt-sugar mixture. Place a lid on top of the container and cure for ten hours in the fridge. Carefully remove the yolks from the pits. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with a towel.

Serve your yolks on a bed of young salad leaves drizzled with a dressing made of olive oil, white aceto balsamico, honey Dijon mustard, lemon juice and fleur de sel. Pair with smoked salmon au natural and coated with roasted sesame seeds, red radish, beer radish and cucumber as well as dill and onion sprouts.

I served this salad as a starter in my seven course tasting menu.

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