Scrambled eggs 007 - Zester Daily

Scrambled, Not Stirred

Eggs that would please 007 aren't hard to achieve. But flex your whisking arm to aim for perfection.

By Clifford A. Wright | Tuesday, 06 October 2009 | 16:10

To make the perfect breakfast, you have to break a lot of eggs. Actually, only two or three. Photo by Clifford A. Wright

Consider the egg in its perfect cooked state: scrambled.

No less an authority than James Bond concurs. In "Thunderball," as his housekeeper May prepares what he considers a "proper food" -- four scrambled eggs, four rashers of American hickory-smoked bacon, hot buttered toast (not whole meal), a big pot of double strength coffee and the drink tray -- Bond ruminates, "Plenty of time to watch calories when one gets to heaven." In every book written by Ian Fleming, Bond's favorite dish is scrambled eggs. In fact, "scrambled" should be as famous a phrase as "shaken, not stirred."

Scrambled eggs are about the finest food you can imagine. If you disagree, your eggs have been improperly cooked. An overcooked egg is simply garbage.

Near my home is a breakfast place that specializes in omelets. From a block away, I can smell the overcooked eggs and feel sad for the people eating that dreck. A proper egg should be organically raised and fresh (as in just-laid), and when scrambled should be light, moist, and fluffy, like eating clouds. Unfortunately, many an egg in an uncaring diner has been browned, and tastes like a piece of yellow rubber.

Country scrambled eggs -- which are cracked into a pan and whisked in the pan as they cook -- do nothing for me. I also am not a fan of the classic French method of making scrambled eggs as described by the famed chef Auguste Escoffier. He recommends beating six eggs directly in a heavy saucepan in two tablespoons of hot butter with salt and pepper over moderate heat, stirring constantly until the eggs are smooth and creamy without lumps. The eggs come off the fire and two more tablespoons of melted butter and three tablespoons of cream are beaten into the eggs.

Legendary food writer M. F. K. Fisher used the same method, more or less, calling it "quirky." She cracked eight eggs into a cold cast-iron skillet and added 1½ cups of heavy cream and turned the heat to low and stirs for about 30 minutes until softly congealed. Once finished, she seasoned it with salt and cheese. (Using 2 eggs and 5 tablespoons of cream, this method takes about 10 minutes.) Set down before a man with love, she assured her readers, these scrambled eggs will "soothe him like pansy petals." Quirky indeed. Anyway, I've never been soothed by pansy petals.

I have not yet made Scrambled Eggs James Bond. In Ian Fleming's collection of travel writing, "Thrilling Cities," we learn how the super-spy prefers his eggs in a short piece about 007 in New York. Bond instructs the head waiter of the Edwardian Room in the Plaza Hotel to prepare his scrambled eggs in a particular way.

For four individualists:
12 fresh eggs
Salt and pepper
5-6 ounces of fresh butter
Break the eggs into a bowl. Beat thoroughly with a fork and season well. In a small copper (or heavy bottomed) saucepan melt 4 ounces of the butter. When melted, pour in the eggs and cook over a very low heat, whisking continuously with a small egg whisk.

While the eggs are slightly more moist than you would wish for eating, remove the pan from heat, add rest of butter and continue whisking for half a minute, adding the while finely chopped chives or fines herbs. Serve on hot buttered toast in individual copper dishes (for appearance only) with pink champagne (Taittinger) and low music.

I'm no 007, but I do have a license to cook. So here's my way of scrambling eggs. Very different this. Simpler and better too.

In a bowl, beat two large fresh organic eggs with a wire whisk for a 100 swift strokes. (I don't believe scrambled eggs should ever be made with more than three eggs at a time.) Your arm will be tired, so rest a moment then whisk 50 more times. This aerates the eggs which creates a fluffiness when they are cooked. The surface of the beaten eggs should have many air bubbles and look frothy. Salt the eggs to your taste.

Meanwhile, melt a tablespoon of butter in a 7-inch nonstick pan until bubbling vigorously over heat set a tad higher than medium.

Pour the eggs into the pan. Use a rubber spatula to push the eggs toward the center from all sides of the pan, lifting and folding as it congeals. Do this swiftly and constantly, and shake the pan too. Keep enclosing the creamy wet part of the eggs until you have a solid piece of egg mass like a small pillow in about 1 minute.

Immediately transfer to a plate and serve. Please, no garnish. A little fried white Syrian cheese on the side is nice, though, and of course a few rashers of bacon.

Making the perfect scrambled eggs

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Cracking the eggs. Photo by Clifford A. Wright

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Comments (1)

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Thank you for giving us the story of scrambled eggs 007 style. I've heard so many people wax on about how to scramble an egg. I'd rather have yours any day. -- CB

coriebrown2 , October 07, 2009