Soleier

The story

Soleier take their name from Sole, the German word for a saltwater brine. Hard-boiled eggs are tapped all over so the shells crack but stay on, then left for a day or two in salted water with onion, caraway and bay leaves. The brine seeps through the cracks and seasons the whites, and a handful of onion skins in the pot leaves a marbled pattern under the shell. Before refrigerators, the method kept eggs edible for weeks without cooling, and jars of Soleier once stood in nearly every German Kneipe, the neighborhood bar, as a salty snack. A Berlin newspaper now calls them an almost forgotten recipe, and refrigeration has made their original purpose unnecessary. At Easter they come back. The regional paper Volksstimme lists them among the egg dishes of the holiday and notes their long tradition, especially in eastern Germany, where the brine is made with water, vinegar, salt, onion and caraway. Eating one follows a small routine: peel the egg, halve it, lift out the yolk, put a few drops of oil and vinegar and a dab of mustard into the hollow, then set the yolk back upside down. Start the jar on Good Friday, keep it in the refrigerator, and the eggs are ready on Easter Sunday.