A full English breakfast wouldn't be complete without the addition of a fried egg. But though they only take minutes to cook, it can be deceptively tricky to perfect this seemingly simple dish. And even top chefs can't agree on the best way to make them.
These are the cooking methods of some of the world's best food writers and chefs - and it could change the way you fry your eggs forever.
JAMIE OLIVER
The Naked Chef uses olive oil to fry his eggs and cooks them on a medium to low heat. The low temperature won't crisp up the whites, so if you like your fried eggs to have some bite to them, this isn't the method for you. But the whites do end up soft and silky - and it's quite easy to clean up afterwards.
DELIA SMITH
Delia, as you might expect, opts for a traditional technique and uses leftover bacon fat to fry her eggs. This results in a much more flavoursome egg - but if you're not cooking bacon at the same time, it could be tricky to source bacon fat specifically for your eggs. She recommends using groundnut oil as a substitute - but this has a very neutral, flavourless taste, unlike the bacon fat. She heats the oil on a medium heat before turning it down to low once the egg is added, but bastes the egg white with the oil so the top of the egg cooks as well as the bottom.
MARIO BATALI
American chef Mario cracks eggs into a skillet and doesn't move them around the pan at all for the first 30 seconds before gently loosening the edges.
He flips the eggs at the end - controversially for some - and cooks for another 30 seconds.
CHRISSY TEIGEN
The Queen of Twitter and model is also a notable cookbook author and her Cravings book sees her fry eggs in both butter and olive oil.
She says she is 'aware of how gross this sounds' - but apparently it creates a deliciously soft and flavoursome egg.
FERNARD POINT
The so-called father of modern French cuisine, who died in 1955, cooked his eggs on a heat 'so low that the white barely turns creamy' and finishes with melted better. It's not exactly the healthiest way to cook it and you could end up with a reservoir of melted butter on your plate - but it guarantees flavour.
LUCINDA SCALA QUINN
The editorial director of food overseeing Martha Stewart's foodie media empire fries eggs on a low heat in butter until it foams. She adds a teaspoon of water to help steam the eggs and covers the pan with a lid for the last stage of cooking.
DAVID ROSENGARTEN
If you want to fully embrace the fact that frying an egg is not the healthiest way of cooking it, then perhaps try the New York chef's method, which involves deep frying. He fries in a vat of good quality (but not 'great') extra-virgin olive oil that is heated first before the egg is dropped in.
The egg should be cooked for no more than a minute if you want a runny yolk - and it's important to make sure the egg isn't sticking to the bottom by putting a spatula underneath 10 seconds into the cooking process.
You should end up with a crispy - albeit greasy - fried egg for breakfast.
Daily Mail