Dialect and vocabulary

[telophase]

I've been listening to back episodes of the radio show A Way with Words, which is all about dialect, etymology, and whatever else that has to do with linguistics that asked by the listeners.

On two of them, they've dealt with a particular recipe/food, which apparently has as many different names as there are people. And of all the names the show's hosts listed, they didn't list the name that I know it by! Which means, of course, that they got it wrong.

So...if you have a name for the dish that is made by cutting or tearing a hole in a piece of bread, then putting it into a frying pan and cracking an egg into it and frying the whole thing up, what is it? And what region are you from/where did you get it?



I've always come across it in cookbooks as "ox-eye". And that was just about the only thing they didn't say! They did say "bulls-eye," along with "one-eyed Egyptian" and (of all things!) "toad in the hole." And regarding that last one, they did confirm that it's a regional name for this particular dish in an area of the US that I've forgotten, rather than someone misremmebering the British dish known as toad-in-the-hole. Segment 1. Segment 2.

edit: Forgot to mention that while I grew up in Central Texas, I got this out of a cookbook, and I don't remember which one!

Comments

[loligo]

I vaguely remember eating that once or twice as a kid in Michigan, and whoever made it called it "egg in a frame", but I can't even remember if it was my mom or someone else's parent at a slumber party. I think it was probably at a friend's house.

[telophase]

I wonder why this particular dish ended up with so many names? Maybe because it's such a homey dish, and simple enough that it's easy to come up with, so it gets named anew in many different areas?

[rusty76]

Curious! I've always called it 'house on a hill' and I'm from central tx too.

[telophase]

Interesting! Toby left a message for his parents, who are from East Texas, I think, to see what they call it, if they call it anything.

I never ran across it in the wild, so to speak, just found out about it from books, so I may be a anomaly in this area. :D

[torachan]

I've never encountered the dish in real life, but I think whenever I've seen it referenced on the internet it's been "egg in a basket" (which is what wikipedia has it as).

[telophase]

Interesting! I'm now wondering what the A Way With Words hosts got their info from, and if it's got a map of locations that correspond to the different names. I suppose I should poke through the forums and see if it's posted there.

[flemmings]

Toad in the hole here, Toronto with British background that should have known the difference. OTOH I never had it at home; must have encountered it reading or from friends.

[telophase]

Hee! I can see where the name would have got transferred, as it sounds appropriate for the dish. XD

[dsgood]

I originally encountered it as Georgia Eggs; in NYC, from someone from elsewhere (don't recall where.)

Later as Gypsy Eggs, Egyptian Eggs, Toad in the Hole, and others I don't remember at the moment.

[mustangsally78.livejournal.com]

Eggs in a basket - Phila/NJ Italian

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :D

[stardustmajick.livejournal.com]

I've only incidentally heard of that once or twice on the internet, but never in real life. I've never seen anyone cook anything similar. I don't have a name for it. Bay Area, Florida.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to remember where I first ran across the dish, I think it may have been seeing Olympia Dukakis fry them up in the movie Moonstruck. And then I found it later in a cookbook with the name "ox-eyes". I certainly never encountered it at home until I started making it myself.

[affreca.livejournal.com]

I don't know where I picked up the recipe or name, but I grew up in mid sized college town in South Dakota and call them one-eyed sandwiches.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Did you know that I lived in Vermilion for 9 months after grad school? :D I had a short-term contract from the state to, along with another assistant curator, inventory the collection in a local museum before the state turned it over to the Friends organization.

And that's my South Dakota connection. Went to Pierre a few times to confer with our bosses, but never went over to the Black Hills side because I didn't have enough money to pay for gas and rent a hotel room for the trip. XD

[affreca.livejournal.com]

I did not know that. I'd graduated and left Vermillion by then. It's a small world.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I looked at your profile, and we actually overlapped - I finished my first stint in grad school in '96 and spent the 1996-1997 school year working in Vermillion and then spent a month up in Pierre before going to my mom's house in Texas as I didn't get another job offer until I applied at Texas A&M. :D

My coworker and I found as we went to museum conferences and stuff that we constantly ran into people who had some sort of connection to Vermillion and USD. For a small town and university, it's amazing how many people at least passed through there.

[weirdquark]

I don't remember ever having it growing up and so don't remember anyone calling it anything when I was a kid. But Thrud calls them "toad in a hole" and grew up in Maryland.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to see if I can track down a map with the various name locations pinpointed. THis is just too interesting.

[blissfish.livejournal.com]

Popeye eggs!

(Southern Texas)

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Now that's one I hadn't heard before!

[seajules]

That's toad in the wall in Northeastern Oregon. You throw in the torn piece of bread to be fried, too, and those are called toad's eyes. Naturally, those were considered the best bits by most of us kids (I was never that fond of bread, though this was long before I was diagnosed with Celiac).

[metaphortunate.livejournal.com]

Huh! Mr. E introduced me to it, and he calls it "egg in the hole". He's from New Jersey.

[tempest-strife.livejournal.com]

Eggs in a basket.