Among the big differences between the 007 books and the films are that while 007 is hardly seen to eat in the movies – he is well known for downing booze though – Ian Fleming’s novels often include exquisitely described meals that are a highlight of Ian Fleming’s prose.
Even so, Bond isn’t an out and out snob, and even though he does enjoy good food served in fancy restaurants, his favourite meal undoubtedly is scrambled eggs on toast with bacon. This he is able to eat morning, noon and night and Fleming went as far as featuring a recipe for scrambled eggs within his short story, 007 in New York.
Bond also finds fine dining sometimes rather pretentious and Fleming claims that whenever in England he exists on a diet of grilled sole, oeufs cocotte and cold roast beef with potato salad; Bond himself claims to prefer the ordinary plain food of the country when abroad.
Bond’s favourite meal during the day is breakfast, which we realize because Ian Fleming told us. It was also Fleming’s own favourite meal time – his view that people yearned for uncomplicated, childish foods and breakfast provided exactly that.
While Bond sometimes does order scrambled eggs in the morning in the novels, his routine while in London is rather simpler; he drinks two cups of coffee from De Bry in New Oxford Street (sadly it doesn’t exist any more) brewed with a glass Chemex coffee maker while reading the Times.
He is then served an egg that has been boiled for exactly three and a third minutes by May, his elderly Scottish maid, that is served in a dark blue egg cup ornamented with a golden band round the top. The egg comes from French Marans hens and is supplied by an acquaintance of May. After the egg, he eats toast and butter served along with Tiptree’s Little Scarlet strawberry jam, Norwegian Heather Honey from Fortnum and Mason and Cooper’s Vintage Oxford marmalade – all is served on blue Minton china.
Nonetheless, when in foreign lands his breakfast can vary. In New York he calls room service to order orange juice, three lightly scrambled eggs with bacon, toast and marmalade and a double espresso with cream, which hardly differs from his home breakfast. But when on assignment in Istanbul he orders a much distinct breakfast; yoghurt and green figs with Turkish coffee.
Where we do see evidence of 007 enjoying the “plain food of the country” when he lunches on ham sandwiches with plenty of mustard (in an English pub) or bread and sausage (when tailing Goldfinger through France), he also eats exceptionally well.
Certainly one of the most unforgettable descriptions of a meal happens when he dines with M at his private members club, Blades. Following vodka coming from Riga, Bond requests Champagne to go with his asparagus and hollandaise sauce, lamb cutlets with buttered peas and new potatoes, plus a slice of pineapple for dessert. This episode features in Moonraker, published shortly after rationing had ended in the uk and while it may not appear to be especially spectacular to contemporary readers, the books provided wish fulfilment for the audience of the day.