Alfred Hitchcock Literally Ate His Fears For Breakfast
A conventional Quiche Lorraine recipe calls for several eggs, which would otherwise be several too many for legendary filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock if they weren't needed to make this delicious dish. Quiche Lorraine was one of Hitchcock's favorite meals to have for breakfast — a surprising fact considering how Hitchcock felt about eggs. In a 1963 Cannes interview with Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, the filmmaker — who Fallaci said spoke the entire discussion with "originality and wit" — revealed, "I'm frightened of eggs, worse than frightened; they revolt me."
Hitchcock loved eating Quiche Lorraine for breakfast so much that he had his own special recipe. According to The Dead Celebrity Cookbook, Hitchcock's Quiche Lorraine recipe includes a step to beat four eggs seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg to incorporate into the dish. This certainly speaks to just how much Hitchcock loved Quiche Lorraine since he was willing to overcome his deep fear of eggs to not only handle them but also to cook and eat them. Hitchcock was so horrified by eggs that it wouldn't have been surprising if his follow-up to his 1963 horror film "The Birds" was called "The Eggs." But what was it about eggs that Hitchcock feared so profoundly?
Why Hitchcock didn't like eggs
Alfred Hitchcock famously made tense, thrilling films. But perhaps he experienced the most unnerving tension in his own life whenever he witnessed an egg being cracked; its contents confounded and horrified the legendary horror director. Hitchcock later explained in the Cannes interview, "That white round thing without any holes, and when you break it, inside there's that yellow thing, round, without any holes... Brr!"
But while some moviegoers may have been horrified by the blood trickling down the shower drain during the famous shower scene in Hitchcock's "Psycho" when Janet Leigh's character is shockingly stabbed to death, it was the liquid trickle of an egg that shocked and horrified Hitchcock. He told Fallaci, "Have you ever seen anything more revolting than an egg yolk breaking and spilling its yellow liquid? Blood is jolly, red. But egg yolk is yellow, revolting." It makes you wonder how Hitchcock may have felt about eggs with white or clear yolk.
Although Hitchcock certainly had ovophobia — a fear of eggs — he didn't let it stop him from enjoying his Quiche Lorraine on many mornings. But eggs weren't the only food that horrified Hitchcock.
Hitchcock was too anxious to watch a certain meal of his get cooked
You might think that a legendary filmmaker known as the master of suspense would always appreciate thrilling anticipation. However, this wasn't the case for Alfred Hitchcock. In fact, it was how one particular dish was cooked that Hitchcock found too suspenseful. He told Fallaci, "I can't even bear to stay in the kitchen when my wife is making a soufflé. Will it rise? Won't it rise?"
Hitchcock conquered his fear of eggs whenever he made Quiche Lorraine, and he also tried to manage his anxiety about the rising of soufflés by taking another hands-on approach. However, Hitchcock didn't get the results he was looking for. "I bought an oven with a glass door so I could see whether [the soufflé] was rising, but it hasn't helped. I can't bear to wait the necessary eighteen minutes to see if it'll rise."
At least Hitchcock was able to enjoy quiche despite his fear of eggs. He loved it so much that the dish even appeared in his 1955 romantic thriller "To Catch A Thief." He isn't the only famous filmmaker whose favorite foods made it into their films. Wes Anderson's "Isle Of Dogs" also follows the filmmaker's food focus.