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When he's not shouting at contestants in Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay currently holds seven Michelin stars and has cemented his reputation as one of the most accomplished chefs of his generation.

Operating numerous upmarket dining venues demands that he upholds extraordinarily high standards by bringing in talented and dependable chefs, who must oversee things when he's occupied elsewhere.

Yet, whether you're grafting in a fine-dining restaurant kitchen or a home cook experimenting with various flavours and techniques, Ramsay has one uncomplicated method of evaluating your cooking ability - and it starts with the humble egg.

Ramsay, alongside celebrated French chef Jacques Pepin, has been known to assess cooks by simply requesting they prepare some scrambled eggs or a traditional French omelette.

In a video posted to his YouTube Ramsay revealed: "If they can make the perfect scrambled egg, you know they know how to cook properly."

Forget elaborate sauces, foams or gels, producing a serving of superb eggs can prove that a cook has genuinely mastered the core techniques to turn a straightforward ingredient into a mouth-watering dish.

The beauty of the test is that it's considerably harder than it first seems.

Anyone can scramble some eggs or rustle up a quick omelette, but avoiding rubbery or overcooked scrambled eggs or a broken and patchy omelette is far more difficult than you might think.

Mastering an egg-based dish requires patience, skill and sound culinary judgement. Controlling the temperature to achieve perfectly silky scrambled eggs is an exceptionally demanding challenge.

In Ramsay's approach to preparing the breakfast staple, he recommends taking the pan off the heat every 30 seconds to keep the mixture from setting too firmly.

The assessment also highlights that it isn't about extravagant or complex ingredients that overcomplicate classic favourites - it is entirely down to technique.

Preparing the dish while a Michelin-starred chef looks on also reveals a great deal more about your abilities in the kitchen. It offers experienced chefs a valuable glimpse into how a prospective cook operates.

Are they looking flustered? Have they prepared everything in advance? Are they keeping their workspace tidy as they go? Are they tasting and adjusting the seasoning?

Each detail may seem minor in isolation, but taken together they build a telling picture of a chef's abilities and capacity to perform under the relentless pressure of a busy shift.

So the next time you find yourself in the kitchen looking to put your culinary skills to the test, set aside the elaborate recipes and complex sauces and focus instead on the fundamentals - the answer may well lie in simplicity itself.