In addition to being a cold, effective secret agent, the James Bond of Ian Fleming’s novels is also something of, well, a foodie. Over the course of the book series (you can find the series’ five best installments here) Fleming describes, often in sumptuous detail, seventy of 007’s meals. Bond noshes on crab, samples caviar, and sips champagne with relish, but with the lack of affectation and air of indifference with which he goes about all activities. His knowledge of food is part of his savoir faire — his ability to fit into and make the most of all situations. The fine meals he often enjoys amidst his missions are also little respites from the stresses that come with his line of work — “wonderful moments of consolation . . . for the darkness and danger of his profession.”
But while Bond’s tastes can lean towards the gourmet while on assignment (might as well charge a fine dining meal to one’s expense account if tomorrow you may die!), in his more day-to-day life, he’s content with simpler fare: sandwiches, steaks, and, very especially, scrambled eggs. Indeed, there are only three books in Fleming’s twelve book series in which scrambled eggs are not mentioned.
In From Russia With Love, Fleming writes that “Breakfast was Bond’s favorite meal of the day,” but 007 doesn’t reserve the eating of scrambled eggs for the a.m. — he also enjoys them for lunch, dinner, and even a late-night repast. He often eats the dish with buttered toast (frequently paired with marmalade) and bacon or sausage, and washes it down with black coffee (sometimes doctored with a nip of something stronger).
While Bond’s scrambled eggs are typically prepared for him by others — his beloved Scottish maid and the cooks of the restaurants he patronizes — he also knows how to make them himself, as evidenced by his whipping up a “vast” amount of them in the short story “The Living Daylights,” and the footnote in “007 in New York,” in which Fleming, who was himself a scrambled eggs devotee, shared his creation’s recipe for the dish.
Below you’ll find that recipe quoted verbatim, followed by a visual guide to making it, along with our personal commentary and opinion as to how 007’s eggs turned out.
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SCRAMBLED EGGS ‘JAMES BOND’
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 four oz. 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 pan from heat, add rest of butter and continue whisking for half a minute, adding the while finely chopped chives or fine herbs. Serve on hot buttered toast in individual copper dishes (for appearance only) with pink champagne (Taittainger) and low music.
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Beat a dozen…
