P
Mexican
Huevos divorciados (divorced eggs — two salsas)
Huevos divorciados (divorced eggs) is the Mexican breakfast presentation of two fried eggs — one sauced with salsa roja, the other with salsa verde — separated by a dividing line of refried beans. The visual contrast of red and green, the different flavours, and the symbolic divorce is the point of the dish. A playful, classic Mexico City breakfast. Both salsas must be cooked (not raw), and the eggs must be separately sauced so each retains its individual flavour.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
4
eggs
as fresh as possible
Your own market
4
corn tortillas
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
200 g
refried beans
thick enough to hold a border; warmed through
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the salsa roja
300 g
ripe tomatoes
Origin · ItalyBosa Foods · Vancouver →
1–2
dried chillies (such as guajillo or ancho)
toasted and soaked
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
garlic clove
Your own market
¼
white onion
roughly chopped
Your own market
1 tbsp
neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the salsa verde
300 g
tomatillos
husked
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1–2
serrano or jalapeño chillies
roughly chopped
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
¼
white onion
roughly chopped
Your own market
1
garlic clove
Your own market
10 g
fresh coriander
leaves and tender stems
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp
neutral oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
To finish
60 ml
Mexican crema
drizzled over at service
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
to taste
fine salt
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Make the salsa roja. Char the tomatoes, garlic, onion and soaked dried chillies under a hot grill or directly on a comal until blistered and softened. Blend to a rough purée. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, pour in the purée — it will sputter — and cook, stirring, until the salsa deepens in colour and loses its raw, watery edge. Season with salt. The salsa is ready when it coats a spoon and smells earthy rather than sharp.
From the canon — Salsa roja (red salsa) encompasses the broadest category of Mexican table condiment — sauces based on roasted or boiled tomatoes combined with dried or fresh… Salsa roja — roasted tomato and dried chile →
2
Make the salsa verde. Simmer the tomatillos, chillies, onion and garlic in just enough salted water to cover until the tomatillos turn from bright to dull olive-green and collapse slightly, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving a little cooking liquid. Blend with the coriander until smooth, adding cooking liquid as needed. Heat the oil in a small saucepan, pour in the blended salsa and cook until it thickens and loses its raw, acidic sting. Season with salt. The salsa is ready when the colour settles to a deep khaki-green and the tart edge softens to a round, herbal note.
From the canon — Salsa verde is built from tomatillos (Physalis philadelphica — not green tomatoes, an entirely different plant) combined with fresh green chiles (serrano or … Salsa verde — tomatillo preparation →
3
Warm the corn tortillas two at a time on a dry comal over medium heat, turning once, until pliable and lightly toasted. Place two tortillas side by side on each plate as the base for each egg. Keep warm.
4
Fry the eggs sunny-side up or over-easy in a film of oil over medium heat until the whites are just set and opaque but the yolks remain fully liquid. This is where the dish lives or dies: a hard yolk removes the defining yolk-into-salsa experience; an under-set white will not hold the salsa. Slide each egg immediately onto its tortilla base.
From the canon — The corn tortilla is the foundational food of Mexican cuisine — a thin, round disc of nixtamalized masa cooked on an ungreased comal (flat griddle) until it … Tortilla — hand press, comal, and the puff →
5
Spoon the warm refried beans in a thick, upright line between the two eggs on each plate. The border must be substantial enough to read as a visual divider — not a thin smear — keeping the red and green strictly separated.
From the canon — Frijoles refritos (refried beans — misnomered; the 'refried' is a mistranslation of 'well-fried,' not 'fried again') are pinto or black beans cooked from dri… Refried Beans →
6
Ladle the hot salsa roja over one egg, starting from the centre and covering that egg only. Ladle the hot salsa verde over the second egg in the same manner. No salsa should cross the bean border. Drizzle the Mexican crema over both eggs to unify the plate. Serve immediately: the salsas will continue to soften the tortillas and the eggs will continue to cook on the hot plate.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Heritage-breed eggs with deep-orange yolks; salsas made from fire-roasted heirloom tomatoes and hand-selected dried chillies; home-made refried beans from dried heirloom beans; hand-made corn tortillas from nixtamalised masa.
02
Estate — Free-range eggs; good-quality ripe tomatoes and fresh tomatillos for both salsas; tinned refried beans enriched with lard or good oil; good-quality store-bought corn tortillas warmed on a comal.
03
Market — Supermarket eggs; tinned whole tomatoes for the roja; tinned or jarred tomatillos for the verde; ready-made refried beans used directly from the tin; store-bought tortillas.
04
House — Any eggs; commercially jarred cooked salsas — one roja, one verde — heated before service; tinned refried beans; packaged tortillas. The concept holds provided both salsas are cooked and hot at service and the eggs are not hard-fried.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The salsa roja deepens to a brick-red and coats a spoon without running; the salsa verde settles to a deep khaki-green with visible body.
◇Smell. The salsa roja smells earthy and roasted, no longer sharp or raw-tomato acidic.
◇Taste. The salsa verde's aggressive tartness has softened to a round, herbal note after cooking.
◇Sight. Egg whites are fully opaque and set; yolks are visibly still liquid and domed — not filmed over or cloudy.
◇Sight. The refried bean divider holds a clear border between red and green on the finished plate — the chromatic separation is the visual confirmation the dish is correctly composed.
◇Where it lives or dies. The eggs must be fried to a fully liquid yolk with just-set whites — a hard yolk destroys the defining yolk-into-salsa experience that is the point of the dish.
Pillar V
Cross-cuisine parallels are part of membership.
The dishes this one teaches you, across the cuisines — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year
VI
What to Pour
Strong black coffee or café de olla — the classic Mexico City breakfast pairing; the bitterness of the coffee cuts both the earthy richness of the salsa roja and the herbal tartness of the salsa verde. Fresh orange juice serves the same function for a non-coffee service.
The whole pairingPillar VII
Origin and lineage are part of membership.
Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
Enter · from $49 a year