So which end of an egg do you open?

A top chef says it is "pretty basic", but for many young Kiwis the simple art of boiling an egg is beyond them.

A Colmar Brunton poll that asked nearly 1000 people about their confidence in boiling, scrambling and poaching eggs found that one in 12 Kiwis aged under 30 were not confident, or had never even attempted, boiling an egg.

The survey, commissioned by egg producer Farmer Brown, also showed that one in 10 people under 30 had never tried to poach an egg or make an omelet, and 15 per cent had never scrambled an egg.

Chef Simon Holst was surprised younger people did not cook eggs more, but suspected it was because people were increasingly skipping breakfast, especially cooked ones.

Eggs might have "slipped out of fashion", he said. He had heard similar stories about young people not cooking potatoes "because they don't have instructions on the packet. I hope that's not the case".

Though young New Zealanders are not confident cooking eggs, Kiwis are among the biggest consumers of them. Figures from the Egg Producers Federation show that per capita we consume 218 each year.

- © Fairfax NZ News