This Is Gordon Ramsay's Secret To The Creamiest Scrambled Eggs
Given the fact that so few people seem able to please persnickety celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in the kitchens of any of his television programs, it makes sense that the chef has taken to trying to teach people how to cook. Masterclass offers a course with Ramsay, but one of his best known instructional cooking videos actually predates his Masterclass, and shows the Scottish chef preparing the most delicious and indulgent scrambled eggs. The roughly 4-minute YouTube clip has garnered an astonishing 41,000,000 views. So it must be good, right?
Of course, every chef has their own view on how best to whip up scrambled eggs. Some eschew dairy products all together, saying that it detracts from the egg flavor of the dish. But Ramsay's secret ingredient is indeed a spoonful or two of dairy, in the form of crème fraiche. Somewhat similar to sour cream, crème fraiche is slightly less sour with about 30 percent fat content, compared to about 20 percent in sour cream (via The Kitchn).
Why Ramsay began including crème fraiche in his eggs
Ramsay recalls his training as a 22-year-old chef in France when he talks about the genesis of his crème fraiche inclusion.
"I remember seeing this amazing dish with scrambled eggs and sea urchin. I tasted the sea urchin through the scrambled eggs . . . and they topped it with caviar. I thought it was wild. I had never put sea urchin in scrambled eggs. The texture was just incredible. It made it so much creamier. What was more accessible to the average person at home making scrambled eggs — I knew that was crème fraiche," he told a reporter (via PopSugar). However, if you have fresh sea urchin in season and available near you, by all means give the original a try.
Ramsay adds the crème fraiche at the end of the cooking process, once he's already removed the eggs from the heat. The cold temperature helps to allow the eggs to cool slightly, preventing overcooking.
On top of the crème fraiche addition, Ramsay's eggs are made in a slightly different way than some people might be used to. Ramsay uses a pan instead of a skillet, and encourages cooks to constantly stir the eggs, and take them intermittently on and off the heat. He also advises waiting until the end of the cooking process to add salt to the eggs. If you add it too early, he says, it causes the eggs to break down and become watery.