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Glite Dictionary
shirred egg

shirred egg

7.7
An egg baked in a small dish with cream until the white sets and yolk stays soft
  • noun
  • /ʃɪrd ɛg/
  • Specialized
translation icon : huevo al horno
  • I had a delicious shirred egg for breakfast.

Examples

  • The chef demonstrated how to make a perfect shirred egg in a ramekin.

  • He ordered a shirred egg with cream and herbs for breakfast.

  • A shirred egg pairs well with toast and a side of fruit.

  • The chef prepared shirred eggs with fresh herbs.

  • For breakfast, I ordered shirred eggs baked with cheese and served with toast.

  • The chef prepared shirred eggs with herbs and cream, creating a deliciously soft yolk.

  • She made shirred eggs in a ramekin, ensuring the whites were set while the yolks remained runny.

Synonyms

baked egg
vsshirred egg
1 2.5

An egg cooked in the oven with cream or butter in a small dish

is baked in a shallow dish rather than in a small ramekin
egg en cocotte
vsshirred egg
9.9

An egg cooked in a small dish with cream or butter

is baked only and served in a shallow dish not steamed

How Cooked

shirred egg
  • Specialized
7.7
poached egg
7 2.3

Surface Forms

shirred egg singular
shirred eggs plural

Morphology

shirred + egg

The meaning is directly compositional: 'shirred' denotes a specific cooking method (eggs baked in a shallow dish) applied to 'egg', so the phrase simply names an egg prepared that way. Although 'shirred' is specialized culinary vocabulary, the adjective + noun pattern is standard and cross-linguistically common, so a learner who knows both constituents would understand the MWE.

Etymology

The name shirred egg may come from an old cooking word meaning 'to bake in a shallow dish', giving the image of an egg sitting snug in a small dish in the oven. So today shirred egg means an egg baked gently in a shallow dish until the white is set but the yolk stays soft.