Gulls’ Eggs

For a special springtime delicacy, we always look out for the first of the gulls’ eggs, which our game-dealer sells. These pale blue-grey eggs, heavily speckled in dark brown, have a very short season, and are at other times of the year protected by law. We eat them hard-boiled, shelling them and dipping them into celery salt. They are delicious with fine old white burgundy or a champagne with some bottle age.

Because of EU regulations, butchers and game-dealers, who sell gulls’ eggs in the short late-spring season, are not allowed to cook them on the same premises where meat is being prepared. This means you cannot always get them freshly cooked but unrefrigerated. Like most things, gulls’ eggs taste best freshly cooked. I therefore decided to order and cook them myself, under the expert guidance of Allens of Mount Street (tel: 020 7499 5831), suppliers of fine meat and game to the top hotels and restaurants in London.