Martine Richards has never met an egg she didn’t like.
A vegetarian for more than 20 years, Richards relies on eggs as a major source of protein. She eats them hard-boiled, over-easy, in a frittata, and poached over pasta or veggie hash.
But her favorite preparation? Deviled.
“I really have no idea where it came from or when it started,” Richards said of her adoration for the hors d’oeuvre. “But I think when I realized that I could have a party with only deviled eggs, it definitely increased from there.”
In 2012, Richards hosted the first-ever Baltimore Deviled Egg Pageant out of her Remington home with one goal in mind: be allowed to eat as many deviled eggs as she desired.
At most parties, where deviled eggs are a side dish, hosts rarely make more than 24 servings (a dozen eggs halved). For a guest to consume more than two at those events could be perceived as a social faux pas, said Richards, though she often sneaks a third if any are left over at the end of the get-together.
“It’s not like chips,” she said. “You can’t just sit there and eat as much as you actually want.”
But at the Baltimore Deviled Egg Pageant, the creamy eggy treat is the star of the show and it comes in abundance.
During the party’s first year, 30 friends gathered in Richards’ living room to sample 10 deviled egg submissions.
The celebration quickly outgrew her home, and in later years she moved it to other venues: Druid Hill Park, Single Carrot Theatre, and last year the Dutch Courage gin bar.
Now in its 10th year – they would have cracked a dozen if the pandemic hadn’t forced them to skip 2020 and 2021 – the pageant has come to a boil. About 175 guests and 25 deviled egg entries are expected at the event this Sunday at Charm City Meadworks.
Though a seemingly simple treat, the devil is in the details for Richards. The egg white must be silky, not rubbery, and have no resistance when biting into it. Meanwhile, the filling should strike a balance between not being too bland or too overpowering.
Much comes down to the mayonnaise, of which Richards has strong opinions.
The best mayo to use is “Duke’s, obviously,” Richards said. That brand’s condiment contains a little more vinegar, according to Richards, which gives it the slightly tangier taste that she craves.
“I will also definitely eat a Hellman’s,” she added. “Kraft is trash.”
When it comes to seasoning, Richards advises cooks to be mindful to adequately salt the filling.
“Especially when you’re making eight times the number of deviled eggs that you would typically make, people tend to undersalt them,” said Richards, who drafts her partner to be a taste-tester when she’s in need of a fresh palette.
In the early days of the pageant, when Richards used to participate as a competitor, one of her favorites to make was a sushi-inspired deviled egg. The egg white is marinated in a mixture of black tea, soy sauce, and black soy sauce. The filling comprises mayonnaise, sriracha, and a little bit of sesame oil; she leaves out the traditional mustard because it doesn’t mesh well with the flavor profile of the other ingredients. And to top it all off, she decorates the egg with a chiffonade of nori, a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, and dots of sriracha.
Now that she has retired from competing and simply serves as an enthusiastic eggspert, Richards enjoys seeing the creative concoctions that others devise. Some that have stuck with her over the years are a deviled egg dyed blue with purple cabbage and topped with blueberries that provided a juicy burst, and a golden beet turmeric pickled egg that had a “beautiful yellow sunny color” and was topped with toasted pistachios.
Unusual flavors, textures, and appearances get high marks from Richards – or at least a nod for risk-taking.
“I never know what to expect as far as what people are going to come up with,” she said.
Richards does not officially judge the egg entries; that honor will be fulfilled this year by Baltimore City Comptroller Bill Henry as well as former winners Mickey Dehn and Kim Wiggins.
But Richards does bestow her own award, dubbed “Martine’s Choice,” to an underdog deviled egg that she believes deserves special recognition.
“I choose something that maybe wasn’t, in my opinion, adequately appreciated by the voting public,” she said, typically awarding a vegetarian-friendly recipe.
Tickets are sold out for this year’s pageant, but supporters can bid on auction items online, like a stained glass deviled egg or a purposefully awkward family photoshoot, starting at 11 a.m. Sunday. All proceeds from the sales of tickets and auction items will benefit the Baltimore Abortion Fund.
This year, the pageant has collaborated with The Charmery to offer a deviled egg-inspired ice cream flavor, with 10% of those sales also going to support the Baltimore Abortion Fund.
Richards said she wanted the event to support the fund, where she serves on the board, to ensure access to safe abortions for people within Maryland as well as those traveling from states with more restrictive abortion laws.
“I know that an unintended pregnancy would completely derail my life and I’ve seen it derail other people’s lives,” she said. “Anyone should be able to get an abortion at any time for any reason. I think you should really be able to choose how and when you become a parent or not.”
