Inspired by her favourite Italian detective Montalbano, our Roman sleuth tracks down the perfect summer dish
A
s he breaks three eggs into a glass bowl, Lt Columbo tells Joanna Ferris: “I’m the worst cook in the world, but there’s one thing I do terrific, and that’s an omelette.” The episode is Murder By the Book, and Columbo has taken Joanna, the wife of murder victim Jim Ferris, home to save her from more relentless questioning by his colleagues. Of course, we already know it was Jim’s less talented writing partner, naughty Ken Franklin, who did it.
At first, Joanna resists Columbo’s offer of something to eat, but he gently gets on with it, in his trademark raincoat: he cracks the eggs into a bowl, picks out a bit of shell that inadvertently falls into the bowl and asks Joanna where he can get a bowl for the empty shells balanced in his hands. It is a perfect scene and perfect Columbo: bumbling and absolutely certain, attentive to needs and tiny details.
There is also an omelette in the Inspector Morse episode The Wench is Dead, made by DC Adrian Kershaw and served to Morse as they discuss the principles of detection and why the victim caught a boat. Morse notes that the omelette could have more paprika. I know this thanks to Chris Sullivan’s stupendous blog, which since 2014 has been keeping the Morse universe and author Colin Dexter’s legacy alive. Sullivan notes that this omelette is one of the few times we actually see Morse eat, although that is not to say we don’t see him at various tables, including with Dr Laura Hobson and a very nice looking bowl of pasta and bottle of wine in the same episode.
