If you had to eat one type of food for the rest of your life what would it be?

This question haunts me, provides perfect dinner party fodder, and sometimes keeps me awake at night. An internal debate rages as to the merits of the decadent drug-like hit of seared foie gras compared to the clean untampered beauty of raw fish or maybe the comfortable simplicity of light, fluffy gnocchi con pomodoro, I could go on and on…….

Yet the answer I frequently alight upon invariably remains the same; the egg. You are probably thinking isn’t it like asking a gardener what’s your favourite flower and him/her answering soil. Yes, eggs do provide the foundation for a hundred million sauces, pastas, soufflés etc. In this context however, I am referring to the egg in its purest and most untainted incarnation either poached, scrambled, boiled or fried. And if pushed to choose, yes I’m obsessive and neurotic, I would certainly settle on the scrambled egg.

My love of this seemingly humble ingredient has spurred me to the dizzying heights of trying to attain scrambled egg nirvana. This has been achieved once at a restaurant, La Petite Maison in Nice. However, it is realised every morning in my little kitchen thanks mainly to Mr Gordon Ramsay’s excellent recipe below:

SUBLIME SCRAMBLED EGGS ON TOAST
serves 2-3
6 large free-range eggs
25g ice-cold butter, cut into small dice
1 tbsp crème fraîche
Freshly ground sea salt and pepper
Few chives, snipped
2-3 chunky slices of rustic bread, such aspain Polaîne, to serve

1 Break the eggs into a cold, heavy-based pan, place on the lowest heat possible, and add half the butter. Using a spatula, stir the eggs frequently to combine the yolks with the whites.
2 As the mixture begins to set, add the remaining butter. The eggs will take about 4-5 minutes to scramble – they should still be soft and quite lumpy. Don’t let them get too hot – keep moving the pan off and back on the heat.
3 Meanwhile, toast the bread.
4 Add the crème fraîche and season the eggs at the last minute, then add the snipped chives. Put the toast on warm plates, pile the softly scrambled eggs on top and serve immediately.

This recipe depends on the best quality eggs you can find plus the utmost patience and care. You will however, be rewarded by the most heavenly concotion, creamy, light and fluffy. Enjoy.

Got back to London a couple of days ago and felt a worrying compulsion for roast duck, Cantonese style. A mad dash down to the ubiqutous Four Seasons ensued.

Upon entering you are greeted by the unwelcome sight of a frantic man carving ducks at breakneck speed. Above him are at least 20 of the poor creatures strung up and ready to be butchered. It’s almost impossible to get a table; people are usually queuing outside. The service is also typical of many Chinese restaurants in London, rude, indifferent and rushed. I order take-out and have to resist the desire to devour the bird at some traffic lights on the way home.

I’m rewarded for my patience by the most perfect example of roast Cantonese duck. The skin is crispy with a thick layer of unctuous fat. The meat is tender and succulent, retaining its gamey origins. A mesmerisingly sweet plum sauce is the perfect accompaniment, the recipe of which is said to be a closely guarded secret. I wish it wasn’t. I sink back into my chair fully satisfied.

Four Seasons
84 Queensway, London, W2 3RL
+44 (0)20 7229 4320

La Petite Maison is a restaurant that we return to year after year. Run by the formidable Madame Ruby, who frightens waiters and customers alike with her stern yet charismatic countenance, the restaurant has become a favourite among the glitterati.

Despite its omission from theMichelin Guide this restaurant really wows in terms of food. My starter dish of truffled scrambled eggs was vastly superior to Terre de Truffe’s paltry offering. They were creamy, fluffy, and light with the perfect balance of of truffle. This was the dish of the holiday, without question, hestitation or debate. In fact it is one of the best things I have ever tasted!!

For the main we all shared two magnificent roast chickens stuffed with Foie gras. So simple yet so wonderful, the chicken was cooked to perfection–tender and succulent with a robust crispiness.

La Petite Maison is not to everyone’s taste, which might explain its exclusion from the Michelin. The service is undeniably French, which in this case denotes rather cocky and indolent waiters who appear somewhat distracted and exasperated. It is also a good place for checking out the interesting work of some of Europe’s plastic surgeons. Certain patrons looked so pulled, taught, and overly enhanced that they resembled cartoon characters. If this is your kind of scene then you will be rewarded by the most amazing food. If not I still urge you to go just for the experience!

Lunch - La Merenda

Tucked away in a backstreet of Nice’s old town is an exceptional little bistro, called La Merenda. There is no telephone which means popping in beforehand and making a reservation. It is an tiny room, some of the press have referred to it rather unkindly as a ‘hole in the wall”, with wooden tables and stools placed so closely together that you can almost touch your neighbours shoulders. This should not deter you, however, because its rustic unpretentious charm is exactly what adds to the overall eating experience.

The Chef, Dominque Le Sanc toils aways in full view of his patrons creating great honest home cooking. Interestingly, he was a former chef at the renowned Le Chantecler who eschewed the sometimes stuffy gastronomic world in favour of opening his own restaurant, specializing in regional dishes.

There are no menus just one blackboard listing the daily offerings. I opted for a starter of Moules Marinieres. The mussels whilst fairly small had so much flavour, which was enhanced further by the fragrant broth which enveloped them. To follow a beautifully executed daube of beef was melt-in-the-mouth tender and reaffirmed exactly why this tiny bistro was so popular with tourists and locals alike.

Go during the day, and lap up the atmosphere.

La Petite Maison
11 rue St-Francois de Paule
Nice
04-93-85-71-53