Have you ever been in a situation— a scene, a day, a vacation where everything is going well but if only that one thing was added to the situation it would be absolutely perfect? Like on a hot Saturday spent cooking some yummy food is good but could have been perfect with a nice cold glass of Rum & Coke. A single element that makes the whole situation perfection.

In the last month, these times of perfection have been far and few. But there are things we are doing as a tiny family that make every day just a little bit better. As the lockdown extended, we moved my grandparents to our home. While they love to be independent and doing things on their own, the national lockdown made it harder for them to take care of themselves without their extended ecosystem of care and sustenance. They have been living with us for a little over 15 days now and it really seems like nothing much has changed. They integrate into the home so well (even Besan behaves well with them) that on some days I forget that they’re even at home. Every day we collectively decide on what movie they will be watching, and then stream it for them. Lunchtime discussions, therefore, circle around said movie. Mom and I both felt bad that the whole family is so busy that we don’t hang out with them at all so we decided to start playing cards every night from 10-11. Now as a family, we aren’t the crazy gamblers that play for high stakes or play fancy games like poker. We play a game that we call “Kitty.” I don’t what the official name of the game is nor could I find it online. Mom and I only play cards with my grandparents (dad’s usually snoozing by 10 pm) mostly because both of us would rather be working, watching Netflix, or playing scrabble otherwise. My Nani-Nanu love this game and usually come prepared with their own deck of cards and the best of part of playing with them is how much they whine when they lose. Nani usually never understands how she lost and defends her cards till her wit’s end, while Nanu loses like a champ but is always reluctant about handing over chips once he has lost. I am usually just the silent observer in this as mom (who usually wins most of the games) is fighting and poking fun at the both of them. This one hour makes up for all the stress from the last 12— and in turn, makes an otherwise good day into a perfect one.

In food, this phenomenon is a lot more common to identify. Egg salad is a perfect example of it as well. Egg salad at the crux of it is just mashed up hard-boiled eggs (cooked two ways), mayo, mustard, heat from some cayenne, juice of half a lemon, and salt & pepper. But the one thing that takes this mush into a thing of textural beauty are the greens of the spring onions. They add freshness, a touch of pungency, and most importantly the leafiness that makes the salad, a “salad.” So while you can make additions subtractions to literally every element of the salad, the one thing I suggest not changing would be the spring onions because those take these sammies from great to perfect.

Glimpses from the week

Ingredients

Ice cubes, for ice baths

2 scallions or spring onions, very thinly sliced

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, or any mustard you may have at hand

1/4 cup relish, chopped fine

2 teaspoons of cayenne powder, or red chilli powder

Juice of half a lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

6 large eggs

4 slices of bread of your choice

Method

1. Fill a large pot with water, leaving a few inches of space at the top, and bring to a boil over high. Prepare 2 ice baths in 2 medium bowls.

2. Once the water reaches a boil, gently drop in all 6 eggs and let the water come back to a boil. As soon as it does so, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the eggs at a gentle simmer, 6 minutes. Transfer 2 soft-boiled eggs to one ice bath. Continue to cook the remaining 4 eggs until hard-boiled, another 2 minutes, then transfer them to the second ice bath. Let sit, 5 minutes. Crack all cooked eggshells by gently hitting them all over with the back of a spoon.

3. Working directly in the bowl, peel the hard-boiled eggs, keeping them partly immersed (the water helps loosen the shells). Transfer the hard-boiled eggs to a cutting board and chop them into 1/4-inch pieces.

4. Prepare the dressing: In a small bowl, stir together the scallion, mayonnaise, relish, lemon juice, and mustard. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

5. Working directly in the second bowl, carefully peel the soft-boiled eggs. Transfer the peeled eggs to the cutting board and slice them in half lengthwise. The yolks should be creamy but not runny. If the yolks are runny, make another batch of soft-boiled eggs. (You’ll only need 1 soft-boiled egg per sandwich, so snack on any extra or imperfectly peeled pieces with some flaky sea salt, if desired.)

6. On 2 slices of bread, Arrange 2 halves down the center of one slice of the bread, laying them yolk side down, and positioning them so the narrower tips point outward toward the crust of the bread and the wider, rounder portions (with the yolks) is in the middle of the bread. Place both halves close enough so that they touch in the center of the bread.

7. Divide the egg salad among the sandwiches, gently plopping 1/2-cup scoops of egg salad on top of each pair of soft-boiled eggs on each of the 2 bread slices. Using an offset spatula, spread the egg salad evenly toward the crusts in all directions until bread is covered.

8. Place the egg salad-less slices on top of the sandwich and slice through the centre.