English expats rejoice: <strong>The Oxley’</strong>s egg is ultra authentic. It’s encased in pork sausage and bread crumbs, deep fried, then served cold—like Fortnum and Mason has been doing it for nearly 300 years—with HP sauce for unlimited dipping. $6. <em>121 Yorkville Ave., 647-348-1300.</em>
<strong>Hawker Bar</strong> makes a Southeast Asian egg topped with coriander, Thai basil and a dollop of chili jam sitting in a pool of spicy prik nam pla. It’s meant to be consumed in a single bite—the chicken eggs are peewee-sized—but best chewed slowly to savour the complex flavours within. $7. <em>164 Ossington Ave., 647-343-4698.</em>
Sunday brunch Scotch-ish Eggs at the <strong>White Brick Kitchen</strong> are pork-free, panko crusted and topped with a brown butter hollandaise that’s richer than Peter Munk. $10. <em>641 Bloor St. W., 647-347-9188.</em>
<strong>The Huntsman’</strong>s deconstructed take consists of a haute Pogo—cornbread-battered chorizo—sweet pickled onions and a poached egg with an oozy yolk. $10. <em>890 College St., 416-901-9919.</em>
Although <strong>Weslodge’</strong>s <br />
take is made with a petite quail’s egg, its flavours are massive. The tender bite is wrapped in spicy chorizo, topped with aromatic truffle flakes and served <br />
on a sweet tomato jam. $5. <em>480 King St. W., 416-367-0505.</em>
On Thursday nights, <strong>416 Snack Bar</strong> offers its version of the Sunday brunch staple: a bread crumb–crusted soft-boiled egg slathered in creamy hollandaise and cracked black pepper. $5. <em>181 Bathurst St., 416-364-9320.</em>
<strong>Small Town Food Co.</strong> reimagines the dish with a Paris-meets-plantation twist. The egg is encased in a crispy fried pork rillette and sided with a scotch bonnet–spiked BBQ sauce. $5. <em>1263 Queen St. W., 416-538-7695.</em>
Lazy Daisy’s Cafe in the east end offers Scotch quail’s eggs on our catering menu – it’s wrapped in chorizo from Oliffe’s then rolled in panko and baked. Served with a house-made tomato-thyme chutney
English fare.
A Scotch Egg is a specific foodstuff made according to a certain type of recipe. The term “Scotch Egg” It is not a broad, generic one that can encompass many things and is completely open to interpretation like “sandwich” can. It is more defined, like “Ham and cheddar cheese sandwich on rye.” For example, if it is soft-boiled or poached, it is not a “Scotch Egg” nor is it a “Scotch Egg” if it is wrapped in American cornbread, if it doesn’t contain any Scottish-style (banger) sausage meat or if it is actually, in fact, an Asian Egg. Choosing to cook an egg any old random way with any random ingredients does not make it a “Scotch Egg” – apparently Mr Hague doesn’t understand this. I look forward to his next review “The Best Potato Salad in Toronto that isn’t a salad and doesn’t contain any potatoes”.
Where I originate from the boiled egg would be hard boiled so the whole concoction could be eaten cold with a nice fresh salad for lunch.