On a weekend morning in the Bank household, the sizzle of eggs frying on a pan, the steady ticking of a toaster and the sharp cracks of a knife hitting the cutting board fill the kitchen. This culinary symphony is part of Leila Bank’s and her father Andrew Bank’s weekend breakfast tradition.
“The dish is what my dad likes to call a hot garlic egg,” Bank said. “It’s basically avocado toast topped with a fried egg with garlic and salt and all the fun stuff. My dad likes to add hot sauce which not a fan of, but you can add whatever you want to it.”
Bank’s father introduced her to the recipe years ago and after countless weekends of cracking eggs and drizzling olive oil, Bank now believes she is even better than her dad at making “hot garlic egg”.
“I’ve perfected my craft if you will,” Bank said. “It depends, but I usually like the yolk a little bit runny on my egg and you have to figure out how to make that happen. You have to have the timing right for when to put the bread in the toaster and you have to make sure you have good avocados. It’s a hustle.”
Bank’s dad can’t recall how he started making the dish, but Leila remembers the moment she got hooked.
“I was really hungry one day and he was making it for himself, and I took a bite of it and went ‘Wow, this is maybe the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life’,” Bank said. “Then he made me one, and the rest is history.”
Making “hot garlic egg” is a team effort. Bank is often the one toasting the bread, mashing the avocados, and seasoning them with salt and olive oil, while her dad is the one frying the eggs.
“My dad does the egg because he thinks he’s really good at it,” Bank said. “I’m better at it but he doesn’t need to know that.”
This 20-minute weekend breakfast routine is generally a quiet affair, but Bank knows how meaningful the moment is for each other.
“It’s sort of comfortable silence,” Bank said. “I think that’s really important to me because talking is nice, but being able to be silent with someone and have it not be awkward is also really beautiful.”
Such a simple dish holds many of Bank’s most cherished memories between her and her dad. Bank knows she will be making this dish for years to come, not only because of how delicious it is, but also because of what it represents.
