BOND WITH THE BEST

There was a time when I used to be an avid quizzer. My scrapbooks contain all sorts of authentic but useless (or, useless but authentic, if you prefer) information on a variety of men, women, things and places. It has a lot of trivia and information about James Bond. Here are some:

James Bond has two large cups of very strong black coffee in the morning without sugar, from De Bry in New Oxford Street, brewed in an American Chemex.

For breakfast, he has two slices of whole wheat toast, a large pat of deep yellow Jersey butter and three squat glass jars containing Tiptree ‘Little Scarlet’ strawberry jam; Cooper's Vintage Oxford marmalade and Norwegian Heather Honey from Fortnum's and a single egg (very fresh, speckled brown egg from a French Marans hen) in a dark blue egg cup with a gold ring round the top, boiled exactly for three minutes and twenty seconds.

On occasions he chooses to have scrambled eggs, this is how 007 likes them: Ingredients for four people: 12 fresh eggs, salt and pepper, 5-6 oz fresh butter. Break the eggs into a bowl. Beat thoroughly with a fork and season well. Melt 4 oz butter in a small copper (or heavy bottomed) saucepan. When melted, pour in eggs and cook over a very low heat, whisking continuously with a small egg whisk. While eggs are slightly more moist than you would wish for eating, remove pan from heat, add rest of butter, and continue whisking for a minute, adding finely chopped chives of fine herbs. Serve on hot buttered toast in individual copper dishes with Taittinger and low music.

The coffee pot and the silver are Queen Anne and the china is Minton.

Who does not know that Bond’s preferred tipple is 'vodka martini, medium dry, shaken not stirred'? But many may not know how it is to be made. Take 4 measures Vodka and add 1 measure dry Vermouth. Shake with ice. Do not stir. Add one green olive. Garnish with a thin slice of lemon peel 'Vesper' is another cocktail designed by Bond and named after the girl with him in Casino Royale. It is prepared by adding 3 measures Gordon's Gin, 1 measure Vodka and 1 measure blond Lillet vermouth. Shake very well. Serve ice cold, garnished with a slice of lemon peel. If he opts for champagne, it is Dom Perignon (Preferably 1953) and Bollinger. Bond believes that feels drinking Dom Perignon '53 above a temperature of 38 degrees farenheit is as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs.

He smokes custom made Mooreland’s cigarettes with 3 golden stripes and writes with a Mont Blanc pen. James Bond prefers suits by the Italian Brioni.

Though Bond has a marked preference for a 1933 4.5 litre Bentley car in the novels, in the movies, its mostly an Aston Martin DB5. (The number on its licence plate is BMT 216A, except in Golden Eye where it is BMT 214A).

What is Bond without a gun? He has wielded several, though. 0.25 Beretta, Walther PPK (and Walther P99) as well as Heckler & Koch P7.

What use is trivia? I don’t know!