Ancient Rome-Inspired Deviled Eggs Recipe

Deviled eggs are a popular American appetizer, but this dish is far from modern. The word "deviled" in a culinary context was first seen in English texts in the late 1700s, and it originally referred to spiced dishes only. The ancient roots of deviled eggs go back even further than that, although the dish evolved over the centuries to what we would recognize today. A typical ancient Roman cena (the main meal of the day), started with an appetizer course called the gustum, which often included eggs. One such preparation was apicius, which describes a medium-boiled egg recipe garnished with a pine nut sauce. Eggs were such an important part of the appetizer course that they're mentioned in the Latin saying "ab ovo usque ad mala," meaning "from eggs to apples," referencing the foods that appeared at the beginning and the end of the meal.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a recipe for deviled eggs inspired by the flavors of ancient Roman egg dishes. Some of the most popular ingredients found in ancient Roman sauces, not just for eggs but for many foods, included black pepper, saffron, mustard, cumin, juniper berries, mint, coriander, wine, fermented fish sauce, olive oil, vinegar, pine nuts, hazelnuts, dates, and prunes. In this recipe, hard-boiled eggs are flavored with honey, lemon juice, cumin, salt, black pepper, dates, pine nuts, and mint for a modern, Mediterranean spin on an ancient favorite.

Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut them in half lengthwise.

Add the yogurt, honey, lemon juice, cumin, salt, and black pepper to the yolks and mash well with a fork until evenly mixed.

Add the dates, pine nuts, and mint and stir.

Evenly distribute the yolk mixture in the depressions of the egg white halves.

Garnish with additional pine nuts and chopped mint, if using. 

Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

There are many ways to cook hard-boiled eggs, and having a few tricks up your sleeve can prevent the frustration of impossible-to-peel shells or partially cooked yolks. The standard method Bottalico recommends is to place the eggs in a saucepan that's wide enough to accommodate all the eggs in a single layer. Fill the pan with water until it just covers the eggs, and then bring the water to a boil. Let it boil for 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes for small eggs, 15 for large, and up to 25 minutes for jumbo eggs. The heat of the just-boiled water will be sufficient to cook the eggs as they sit. Then place the eggs in an ice bath for 5 to 10 minutes to stop the cooking and cool them down before peeling.

To make them easier to peel, don't use the freshest eggs. It's helpful to buy them a few days in advance. Let the eggs cool completely before peeling, and carefully remove the membrane between the shell and the egg white as you peel, because that makes it easier to lift the shell. Some people find that adding oil to boiling water makes hard-boiled eggs easy to peel. You can also gently crack the eggs when they're in the ice bath to allow cold water to seep in and cool them down faster.