Eggs

Eggs are inexpensive, extremely versatile and they can be the simplest and quickest of all foods, or they can be elegant, as in a soufflé. They are the food at which my father excels. Whenever my mother was away, he fended for himself with eggs, his favourite food, varying only in quantity according to his hunger. I think six was the maximum, and he liked his eggs cooked one way only, coddled, which is to put them into a pan of simmering water, then to take the pan off the heat and leave the eggs in the hot water for a couple of minutes. The result is nectar to him, but not to my taste!