Get egg-cited

The right egg
“Choosing the right egg is important,” is the expert’s first advice and no,you don’t have to hop across poultry farms peeping into pens to lay hands on a fresh egg. The regular poultry eggs picked from the neighbourhood grocer are perfect,assures Nijhowne. “Just look for an even-shaped,no-crack and a feel-good egg that’s not been in the fridge for too long,” she says pulling out a huge one from her basket. “This is a goose egg and I am lucky to find a size that big,” she adds.

Mark the middle
Once the egg has been selected,wash it well with soap and sun it for an hour or so. “When completely dry,hold the egg up with its narrower side down. The two ends are like south pole and north pole,” she says and goes on to add,“Take a pencil,gauge the centre of the egg and mark your way,circling the egg’s equator.”

See and saw
This is the most important stage that will decide whether you will be able to proceed on your mission or end up eating yet another omelette. “If you don’t have a small saw,use any kitchen knife provided it has a serrated blade and gently start sawing at the equator line,” says Nijhowne as she gingerly holds the egg and begins to saw. “The movement of the blade has to be like you are sawing and not cutting open,say a melon. Make sure you place a towel and a bowl underneath that can collect the dripping yolk,” she says. The key is to be gentle and not too fast or else you will either end up with jagged edges or a broken shell. “It would be good to know a variety of egg recipes as cutting up the egg without breaking it could require some practice,” she smiles back having successfully cut open the egg into two neat halves.
“At this stage,mark two points where the two halves fit perfectly. This is where the hinge will come,” she says grabbing hold of a small hinge pulled off an old jewellery box. “Use professional carpenter glue to stick the hinge to the outer halves at the two points marked earlier,” she says. Once dry and set,the egg is ready to open and close.

Brush it up
Now begins the fun part. Pull out your brushes and paint to get creative. “You could use poster colours but I recommend sticking to metallic colours or even nail paint if you are still on the learning curve,” suggests Nijhowne as the egg shell in her hand gets its first coat of paint. Sticking to a single colour —blue in her case —she paints only the two outer halves with a single coat before putting them to dry. “You’ll need to do as many as 20 coats,stopping between each one before a final coat of clear enamel polish. Then set it to dry for 24 hours,” she points out mentioning how the paint will toughen the shell. And don’t even think of reaching for the hair-dryer during the paint-and-dry process. “It will just leave you with horrible air bubbles on the surface,” she warns. For our convenience she’s got a similar egg,pre-painted a day earlier that’s ready for the next stage.

Skin deep beauty
The exterior done with,Nijhowne takes a string with which she measures the egg’s circumference and height from the equator to each of the poles. “This length will determine how much fabric to put inside the domes.” For this egg,Nijhowne’s chosen matching silk (pre-starched) in blue which she cuts up using the measurements. “You should end up with a semi-circle like this,” she puts the fabric on the table,brings the ends together and stitches it up like a dome. These two “pocket-like pieces” will fit inside the two halves. “Line the inside with glue and using tweezers place the fabric inside and press with your fingers,” says Nijhowne,as she shows us how to get it right. “Don’t fret if the rims look untidy for there are finishing tips ahead,” she adds.

The glam touch
As Nijhowne holds up a fully painted,single-coloured egg which opens and closes like a box complete with a silk lining inside,we admire the makeover it’s got. From an insipid cream-coloured egg,it’s close to looking like a big gem. “Treat the outer shell as a canvas. You can make your own designs,” says Nijhowne who brings in golden paints and a set of pale coloured sequins. “I have decided to make a pattern with criss-crossing lines,which I will highlight with sequins. Make sure both the halves are coordinated,” she says meticulously placing the sequins. The rims of the shell will be adorned with running lace so that the lining looks neat. “You can make use of pearls,stones,beads,any embellishment that’s dressy,” she says. Her collection of decorated eggs made over the years boasts of brooches,gems and even glass bangles used as decorations.

Centre of joy
Now that the egg’s complete, it is time for a surprise element. “That’s the whole point of cutting it open. You have to place something nice inside so that each time it’s opened,there’s a surprise within.” For the blue egg she’s put together for this demo,Nijhowne’s brought a miniature carved elephant. “To make sure it doesn’t topple,you can place a cardboard cutout or some rolled up cotton in the shell’s south pole and balance the same,” she explains tucking in the elephant in the egg.
Curious to see what the other eggs in her collection hold,we open each one. Bouquets of flowers and even a mini Taj Mahal don’t fail to surprise us. “Once your egg is ready to be displayed,you’ll have to hunt for an egg stand that will hold it from the centre,” she says placing the egg to rest as we admire a job well done.

Verdict: We’ll give it an eight out of 10.
It is a time-consuming art,but it’s the final result that makes you want to pick an egg and start all over again.