of our back verandali in cantonment. Eggs, tliougli
neither as clieap, nor as plentiful as in days of yore, are
still to be got : we can obtain cliarcoal, and a broken
chatty to hold it : Ave can get an iron o»ieZe^^e-pan, made
to order, in the bazar : we need never be without a tin
of " Normandy," " Denmark," or " cow brand" butter :
or, failing that, a bottle of the best salad oil. Salt, pepper,
and a bottle of di-ied parsley ought not to be beyond our
I'cach, and an onion is not an exjiensive luxury. Thus
provided, we ought to be in a position to turn out a
capital dish, very rapidly, at any time, and anywhere.
Omelettes, as you all know, can be diversified ad libitum :
we need never, therefore, be afraid of falling back upon
them.
Before I proceed to the discussion of omeZe^^e-making,
however, let me point out that Ramasamy has been
led astray altogether witli regard to this branch of his
art. He sends you up a very nice pudding, symmetri-
cal in design, of a goodly consistency, and of a rich brown
colour. You almost require a dessert-knife to help it. It
is, of course, lighter somewhat, than a * roly-poly' pudding
made of paste, but it greatly resembles that homely com-
position. It is a first cousin of the pancake, and Rama-
samy evidently uses the stuff of which it is made to coat
his plantains when bidden to make fritters. He starts
wrongly to commence with, when mixing his omelette.
In addition to the eggs (the whites of which he whips
separately) he puts in a little flour, some milk or a little
water, and, in point of fact, makes a lightish sort of
hatter. This, I regret to say, ho vigorously whips, and
fries in a fair amount of ghee, folding it into shape, and
keeping it on the fire till it is nice and firm, and colom^ed
as I before described. That this is no more an omelette
than our old friend " the man in the moon" I need hardly
assure you. Native cooks are nevertheless very easily
THE SA VO UR Y OMELETTE. 1 7 9
taught how to make one properly, and rarely fail after a
patient exemplification of the correct method.
I must confess that with the exception of " the Cure's
omelette" previously alluded to, I never picked up a
wrinkle concerning this excellent dish from a book. I
have never come across a dissertation on oj)<eZef/e-making
which seemed to have been written by a man who had
viade one himself. The manner in which I learnt, the little
I know on the subject was as follows : — I was marching
with a Regiment from Bangalore to Secunderabad. At a
place called Pennaconda, in the Bellary District, I was
most hospitably entertained by a Member of the Madras
Civil Service. Though so far away from any civilized
place, the dinner placed before me in the quondam public
bungalow in which my host resided might have graced a
^etit tahle in the stranger's room of a London Club. His
breakfast was an equally artistic meal, and was concluded
by an omelette, — made on the spot, — by my accomplished
friend himself. If this imperfect essay happen to catch
his eye, he will, I am sure, forgive the honest tribute of
his grateful pupil. Calling for a slop-basin, he broke into
it four ordinary country fowl's eggs whole, and added the
yolks only of two more. He thus had six yolks, and four
whites. These he thoroughly mixed by using two forks :
he did not heat them at all.✪ Savory Omelette
Page 100 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1885. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
of our back verandali in cantonment. Eggs, tliougli neither as clieap, nor as plentiful as in days of yore, are still to be got : we can obtain cliarcoal, and a broken chatty to hold it : Ave can get an iron omelette-pan, made to order, in the bazar : we need never be without a tin of " Normandy," " Denmark," or " cow brand" butter : or, failing that, a bottle of the best salad oil. Salt, pepper, and a bottle of di-ied parsley ought not to be beyond our I'cach, and an onion is not an exjiensive luxury. Thus provided, we ought to be in a position to turn out a capital dish, very rapidly, at any time, and anywhere.
Omelettes, as you all know, can be diversified ad libitum : we need never, therefore, be afraid of falling back upon them.
Before I proceed to the discussion of omelette-making, however, let me point out that Ramasamy has been led astray altogether witli regard to this branch of his art. He sends you up a very nice pudding, symmetrical in design, of a goodly consistency, and of a rich brown colour. You almost require a dessert-knife to help it. It is, of course, lighter somewhat, than a * roly-poly' pudding made of paste, but it greatly resembles that homely composition. It is a first cousin of the pancake, and Ramasamy evidently uses the stuff of which it is made to coat his plantains when bidden to make fritters. He starts wrongly to commence with, when mixing his omelette. In addition to the eggs (the whites of which he whips separately) he puts in a little flour, some milk or a little water, and, in point of fact, makes a lightish sort of hatter. This, I regret to say, ho vigorously whips, and fries in a fair amount of ghee, folding it into shape, and keeping it on the fire till it is nice and firm, and coloured as I before described. That this is no more an omelette than our old friend " the man in the moon" I need hardly assure you. Native cooks are nevertheless very easily
THE SA VO UR Y OMELETTE. 1 7 9
taught how to make one properly, and rarely fail after a patient exemplification of the correct method.
I must confess that with the exception of " the Cure's omelette" previously alluded to, I never picked up a wrinkle concerning this excellent dish from a book. I have never come across a dissertation on omelette-making which seemed to have been written by a man who had viade one himself. The manner in which I learnt, the little I know on the subject was as follows : — I was marching with a Regiment from Bangalore to Secunderabad. At a place called Pennaconda, in the Bellary District, I was most hospitably entertained by a Member of the Madras Civil Service. Though so far away from any civilized place, the dinner placed before me in the quondam public bungalow in which my host resided might have graced a petit table in the stranger's room of a London Club. His breakfast was an equally artistic meal, and was concluded by an omelette, — made on the spot, — by my accomplished friend himself. If this imperfect essay happen to catch his eye, he will, I am sure, forgive the honest tribute of his grateful pupil. Calling for a slop-basin, he broke into it four ordinary country fowl's eggs whole, and added the yolks only of two more. He thus had six yolks, and four whites. These he thoroughly mixed by using two forks : he did not heat them at all.
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Savory Omelette