What is the derivation of the deviled egg? I’m sure it’s a question that’s been troubling you, particularly given recent world events.
According to Wiki, they originated in Roman times, but they came to my attention in the early Eighties, when I was forced to circulate my grandmother’s fearsome curry and cayenne-ridden creations at family parties. They were the height of sophistication in West Sussex in those days, especially when accompanied by a limp spear of tinned asparagus wrapped in a slice of suspiciously shiny, perfectly round ham.
And now they’re back. That comic-kitsch canapé has been on the menu just about everywhere I’ve eaten in New York the last couple of weeks.
Blame April Bloomfield for kicking off the trend a while ago at her Spotted Pig pub, where the deviled egg nestles next to devils on horseback (what is it with devils?) and pickles (the other current comeback kid) on the snack menu. She’s doing that other Brit ovum, the Scotch egg, at her new place, The Breslin.
I sampled a rather déclassé version over at Moto in Williamsburg, stuffed with tinned tuna and anchovies. And I’d go so far as to say I enjoyed a couple at the Tipsy Parson, another Brit-influenced joint newly opened in Chelsea. Because these were a different mayo-and-curry breed altogether: subtle, light and moist. Not your grandmother’s deviled eggs, in other words, or mine.
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