A New Take on Deviled Eggs at The Fat Snook in Cocoa Beach

It’s fun to try an old dish in a new way, when someone has reimagined a concept – and done it in a way that respects the tradition while bringing in a fresh outlook that’s additive rather than simply trendy or artsy.

The Fat Snook in Cocoa Beach has threaded that needle with their playful and delicious approach to the deviled egg. Check out this picture that I took during a dinner there last month.

That doesn’t look at all like a deviled egg, you’re probably thinking. That’s certainly what I thought!

But yes, it is.

There’s a base of egg white, formed in a long rectangle. And then a creamy, tangy piping of egg yolk. And then, the toppings. As The Fat Snook described it on their Instagram post called Deliciously Deviled just before Easter in 2019, the dish is “Mexican Street Corn Deviled Eggs, with chorizo + tajin + cotija”. My friends, this dish was AMAZING. It had crunch, tang, spice, a bit of char on the corn, and four proteins: black beans, chorizo, the eggs and the cotija cheese. All of these elements blended perfectly for bites that exploded with flavor. Did I say AMAZING? It was a perfect starter.

Here’s the beautiful picture from The Fat Snook’s Instagram, with a little Easter-like garnish of spring flowers to dress it up.

An Instagram user described the dish this way, “It’s a long rectangle of egg white for the base and then topped with black beans, roasted corn, cotija, chorizo, micro cilantro or other micro green.” She left out the creamy yellow yolk that was piped atop the egg whites, but I can see why she was agog about the toppings. Here’s another picture from an unidentified Yelp user that gives you a better look of how the dish is assembled, structurally.

This really is one of those instances where the reimagining doesn’t disrespect the original dish. It creates a whole new thing that has value of its own. AMAZING.

The Glover Gardens Deviled Egg Recipe

I still love a traditional deviled egg, though! Here’s the Glover Gardens recipe, captured for posterity with one of my amazing nieces last spring when the Great Glover Gardens 2.0 Kitchen Remodel had just been completed.

A Little History of Deviled Eggs

I learned from the North Carolina Egg Association that deviled eggs date back to ancient Rome. And a treatment called “stuffed eggs” began showing up in Spain in the 13th century. Eggs were boiled, halved, yolks removed and then stuffed with a mixture that included herbs, spices and a sauce called murri that was made of fermented barley or fish. The two sides of the stuffed eggs were fastened back together with a stick for serving. A couple of centuries later, stuffed eggs in Europe had become popular, and might be filled with herbs, cheese or even raisins and then fried. Who knew? I haven’t independently verified these facts, but if you can’t trust the North Carolina Egg Association about eggs, who can you trust? 😁 Here’s their post from National Deviled Egg Day back in November of 2018 with the lowdown.

I feel like National Deviled Egg Day should be in the summer rather than November, recognizing the role that deviled eggs play at all those picnics, don’t you? Or even just after Easter, for all those colored eggs in baskets that might not get the love they need if it wasn’t for the deviling afterward.

The North Carolina Egg Association Collection of Deviled Egg Recipes

In that spirit, here’s another link to the venerable North Carolina Egg Association, their collection of deviled egg recipes. There are a couple that are a little “out there”, like one with quinoa, but hey, I could be a believer. My deviled egg landscape got a lot bigger through my experience with the Fat Snook’s Deliciously Deviled dish.

Easter is coming: will you be deviling some eggs? I might try a Glover Gardens version of the Fat Snook Deliciously Deviled treatment, if I can figure out how to make that nice rectangle of egg white. If so, you know I’ll be sharing it here, Dear Readers!

Just for fun, here’s one last pic from The Fat Snook’s Instagram account.

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