What Is Always the First Dish Emptied at a Pot Luck?
The deviled egg plate, of course.
Do you have a deviled egg plate? If you were ever a Southern bride, you probably do. It’s a popular wedding gift and comes in all sorts of materials like fine china, pewter, glass, and Tupperware. The deviled egg plate has one purpose—stylishly display deviled eggs—and it performs its purpose to perfection.
A more humble version of its oyster plate cousin, depression glass deviled egg plates began showing up on American tables in the 1930’s, and most of the popular glass makers of the day made them. They were extremely popular with the cocktail party set in the 1950’s and 1960’s as fine china makers began offering their own versions. Tupperware made several styles of deviled egg containers perfect for carrying to a picnic or pot luck. My mom had this one. (I think she still does.)
While the South has claimed the deviled egg as its own special delicacy, the origins of this stuffed egg dish can be traced to the Romans. Hostesses in ancient Rome were fond of deviled eggs, and they usually served them at the beginning of a banquet meal. (It’s unclear whether they used a proper egg plate.) Roman eggs might be dressed with any combination of pine nuts, herbs, honey, wine, broth, and vinegar, but no mayonnaise, since that condiment wasn’t invented until the 1700’s. Stuffed eggs popped up in what is now Spain in the 13th century and spread throughout Europe and later across the Atlantic to America. (For the record, deviled just means highly seasoned, not demonically possessed.)
Whatever their origins, deviled eggs always show up on Southern tables during events major and minor, from church picnics to funeral visitation. Every Southern cook has his or her own recipe, so no two batches of deviled eggs will be alike, even if three ladies show up to the Bunco party carrying deviled egg plates. Boiled egg yolks are mixed with all sorts of things—mustard, sweet pickle relish, dill pickle relish, minced onions, paprika, truffles, vinegar—and then are either spooned or piped back into the divot in the egg white half. The ingredient they all have in common is mayonnaise. Dukes Mayonnaise if you can get it; if you can’t, bless your heart.
Humorist Marylin Schwartz in her book, A Southern Belle Primer: Or Why Princess Margaret Will Never Be a Kappa Kappa Gamma, shares this Mississippi belle’s memory of a mayo-free deviled egg incident:
I’ll never forget a picnic where a friend of my mother’s once served us deviled eggs that didn’t have any mayonnaise in them at all. It was some fancy kind of oil and mustard she’d gotten from some book. We were all appalled but too polite to say anything. She had them on a deviled egg plate just like they were the real thing. But she didn’t fool anybody. If it doesn’t have mayonnaise, it isn’t a deviled egg.
So say we all.
I did not get a deviled egg plate for a wedding gift. I got a sterling silver pizza cutter from a sweet friend of my mother-in-law but no deviled egg plate. My mother fixed that a few years ago by giving me one of her extra pewter egg plates. It’s really pretty with a bunny in the middle. It holds twelve deviled eggs—or as my son Daniel calls it, a single serving—so it needs refilling often for a party.
In fact, deviled eggs are so popular, the smart hostess makes about twice as many as she thinks she needs so they will last at least 15 minutes into the party or potluck. My kids have been known to eye the deviled egg plate ahead of time, count how many are there, and divide by the number of people in the room so they know how many they can put on their plate. This is also why it’s important to put them on a cute plate because a cute plate is all that’s going to be left to look at in a little bit.
My own deviled eggs are more the product of a process than a recipe. I use basically the same ingredients each time, but I keep adding them to the egg yolks without measuring anything until it looks and tastes about right. My personal twist on the deviled egg involves sumac, a spice that’s popular in Middle Eastern cooking. We discovered sumac at a restaurant called The Oasis in Louisville, Kentucky several years ago on a family road trip through the area, and its citrusy bite has been part of our spice cabinet ever since. I substitute it for the paprika many cooks like to sprinkle on top of deviled eggs for a little sparkle. Sumac is also very good in egg salad, which is pretty much just deconstructed deviled eggs.
This is how I make my deviled eggs:
6 Hardboiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise with yolks removed
Dukes Mayonnaise
Mustard
Dill Pickle Relish
Salt and Pepper
Sumac
Add yolks to a bowl with a generous spoonful of mayo, a tablespoon or so of mustard, and a spoonful of dill pickle relish. Mash together with a fork, and add salt and pepper to taste. Add smaller dabs of mayo until yolks are the consistency you want them and adjust the other ingredients until it tastes just right to you. You’ll want to go slow with this because the yolks can liquify quickly. You want them to be smooth but still be able to hold their shape in the egg white half. Spoon the yolks back into the egg white halves and sprinkle with sumac.
What do you put in your deviled eggs?
My deviled egg plate full of eggs
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You dropped a bomb on me, baby!
I hope you’ve had some excellent adventures with apple butter since last week. I can report that I tried it as a sauce on pork tenderloin. The flavor was good but would have been better if I’d warmed it up first. Don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t already, and share with your friends.
Until next time,
Karla
Hmmm...maybe this weekend I can try deviled eggs. Although I’m still enjoying my apple butter (the consistency isn’t great but wow it tastes delicious!!)
Oh, and you can also balance mayo and Italian dressing (very light on mustard) for a savory DE. Sprinkle garlic or herb breadcrumbs but eat soon so they don't get soggy.