Egg with soldiers in Europe and in Gottfried von Wedig's still life of 1630

Jot down the recipe: the egg is left to stand briefly at room temperature, boiled in boiling water for 6 minutes and not a second longer, over a low heat at a gentle simmer, and served with salt and toast cut into thin strips. The dish is called egg and soldiers. Today it is regarded as a classic English way of serving eggs, but historically eggs have been eaten this way in many European countries, and everywhere these little toasts are called soldiers.

As you can see from this detail of the Still Life with a Candle by Gottfried von Wedig, dated 1630, the soldiers have been in service for at least the last four hundred years.