The swimmer Ian Thorpe may have come of his own accord this week but my own 'outing' came quite expectantly. Every time I order eggs in a café I feel as though I'm airing a dirty little secret. I want them broken, flipped, cooked all the way through, nothing left runny please. I always lower my voice as I relay these instructions because as a food professional I'm slightly embarrassed by my lack of sophistication when it comes to eggs.
So imagine my horror when a complete stranger overheard me giving the aforementioned instructions to the waiter and leaned over and said "Don't worry, I have one too". One what? "A food confession." He whispered that despite being well-travelled and a person who adores the cafes of the world he has a thing for instant coffee. He loves the stuff. Prefers the taste to the real deal. Shock horror.
Then, because we were in the mood for sharing confidences, I let him in on another of my shameful foodie secrets - my ambivalence towards oysters served in their natural state. Throw them in some batter then the deep fryer and I'm as keen as the next person but raw? No thanks.
We were on a roll. He countered with admitting that he finds truffles to be overrated and I declared that I nearly always include cucumbers in my shopping basket regardless of what season we're in.
We sat back and sighed. Gee it had felt good to come clean. A steak well done, a mayo made with condensed milk, a dash of Marmite in the gravy - surely we all have food confessions that we hope the food snobs won't find out about us. Don't we?
