The Crunchy Food Jacques Pépin Adds To Scrambled Eggs

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Jacques Pépin has been a delight on our television screens for over 40 years, and the legendary French chef still has much to teach us about the art of cooking. Pépin already told us the secret to making perfect hard-boiled eggs (a little help from a push pin is all it takes), and these are the kind of small-but-significant tips he built a career on. Chef Jacques also revealed the unusual but undeniably brilliant ingredient he adds to his scrambled eggs: croutons.

Croutons may seem a little strange to pair with scrambled eggs, but there's a big reason why Pépin uses them. He prepares eggs in the traditional French style, as he demonstrated along Julia Child in the 1999 cooking show, "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home." Pépin incorporates butter, heavy cream, and constant whisking. This creates creamy, soft scrambled eggs that are almost like a thick sauce rather than the firm lumps you get at an American diner. Pépin loves to serve these silky smooth eggs over garlic and sautéed tomatoes, and garnished with croutons for a satisfying crunch. It might not be the first combo you think of, but it absolutely works.

Jacques Pépin's super smooth scrambled eggs, combined with fresh tomato and crunchy croutons, are an excellent combination of taste and texture and deserve induction into the Best Celebrity Egg Dishes Hall of Fame. To truly achieve Pépin-esque perfection, you'll need to understand that the difference between French and American scrambled eggs involves attentive whisking, and you'll need to embrace croutons as more than a crunchy topping for your salad. Homemade croutons are easy to make, have a lot of potential for different flavors, and can bring a new dimension to your meals, scrambled or otherwise.

First off, if you're tired of eating savory croutons, try them sugary or spicy. While sugary croutons might be a bit out of left field for scrambled eggs, spicy croutons would definitely hit the spot, as eggs go great with a little bit of hot sauce. You can also make your croutons extra savory by adding tomato paste. Whichever direction you decide to go in, your pairing of flavorful, crunchy crouton with the creamy richness of smooth scrambled eggs is sure to make Chef Jacques proud. Bon appétit!