When thoroughly satisfied that incorporation had been effected, he flavoured the mix- ture with a salt-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful of very finely minced shallot, a heaped up table-spoonful of minced curly parsley (grown in his garden) and — to crown all — a table-spoonful of really rich cream. He stirred this for a minute, and, as far as its first stage was concerned, the omelette was ready. We now left the dining-room for the verandah where there was a good charcoal fire in an iron brasier, (a half chatty would have sufficed of course) and upon it a pan about ten inches in diameter, very shallow, 180 CULINARY JOTTIXGS FOR MADRAS. with a narrow rim well sloped outwards. A pat of butter was melted in the pan, sufficient in quantity to thoroughly Uibrieate the whole of its surface, and leave a coating of nioistm^e about an eighth of an inch deep over all. As soon as ready, quite burning hot, — the butter having ceased to splutter, and beginning to brown, — with one good stir round, the mixture was poured into the pan. At the moment of contact, the underpart of omelette formed, this ^ was instantly lifted by the spoon, and the unformed por- tion allowed to run beneath it ; the left hand, holding the I pan, and playing it, as it were, from side to side : With one good shake, the pan (in less than a minute from the time of commencing operations) was lifted from the fire, and its contents rolled off into the hot silver dish at hand to receive it, in which a little melted butter, with some minced parsley and shallot, had been prepared. The omelette, as it rolled of its own accord from the pan, caught up, and buried within it, the slightly unformed juicy part of the mixture which still remained on the surface ; and, as it lay in the . dish, was without any special shape, of a golden yellow colour, flecked with green, with the juicy part escapinL" from beneath its folds. An omelette ought never to be stiff enough to retain a rolled-up appearance. Being so rapidly cooked," it ought to be too light to present a fixed form, and, on reaching the hot dish, should spread itself rather, on account of its very frothiness. Books that counsel you to tur7i an omelette, to fold it, to let it brown on one side, to let it fry for about five minutes, &c., are not to be trusted. If you follow such advice, you will only produce, at best, an egg pudding. Timed by the seconds hand of a watch an omelette of six eggs, cooked as I have described, took forty-five seconds from the moment of being poured into the pan to that of being turned into the dish. The omelette we have just discussed is that generally I I THE SA VO UR Y OMELETTE. 1 8 1 known as " aux fines lierhes^^ : — tlie ordinary one is simply made of eggs flavoured with salt. Thongh. cream is an im- provement, it is not essential. I confess tliat I like a very little minced onion in all savoury omelett✪ Savory Omelettees, but tliis is a matter of taste, and where ladies are concerned, the fragrant bulb ought perhaps to be omitted. The general rules to be observed in omeZe^^e-making, then, may be thus summed up :— 1. Use a proper utensil, with narrow, well sloping sides 5 see that it is clean, and quite dry. 2. Do not overdo the amount of butter, or salad oil, that you use for the frying.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

When thoroughly satisfied that incorporation had been effected, he flavoured the mixture with a salt-spoonful of salt, a tea-spoonful of very finely minced shallot, a heaped up table-spoonful of minced curly parsley (grown in his garden) and — to crown all — a table-spoonful of really rich cream. He stirred this for a minute, and, as far as its first stage was concerned, the omelette was ready. We now left the dining-room for the verandah where there was a good charcoal fire in an iron brasier, (a half chatty would have sufficed of course) and upon it a pan about ten inches in diameter, very shallow, with a narrow rim well sloped outwards. A pat of butter was melted in the pan, sufficient in quantity to thoroughly lubricate the whole of its surface, and leave a coating of moisture about an eighth of an inch deep over all. As soon as ready, quite burning hot, — the butter having ceased to splutter, and beginning to brown, — with one good stir round, the mixture was poured into the pan. At the moment of contact, the underpart of omelette formed, this was instantly lifted by the spoon, and the unformed portion allowed to run beneath it ; the left hand, holding the I pan, and playing it, as it were, from side to side : With one good shake, the pan (in less than a minute from the time of commencing operations) was lifted from the fire, and its contents rolled off into the hot silver dish at hand to receive it, in which a little melted butter, with some minced parsley and shallot, had been prepared. The omelette, as it rolled of its own accord from the pan, caught up, and buried within it, the slightly unformed juicy part of the mixture which still remained on the surface ; and, as it lay in the . dish, was without any special shape, of a golden yellow colour, flecked with green, with the juicy part escaping from beneath its folds. An omelette ought never to be stiff enough to retain a rolled-up appearance. Being so rapidly cooked," it ought to be too light to present a fixed form, and, on reaching the hot dish, should spread itself rather, on account of its very frothiness. Books that counsel you to turn an omelette, to fold it, to let it brown on one side, to let it fry for about five minutes, &c., are not to be trusted. If you follow such advice, you will only produce, at best, an egg pudding. Timed by the seconds hand of a watch an omelette of six eggs, cooked as I have described, took forty-five seconds from the moment of being poured into the pan to that of being turned into the dish. The omelette we have just discussed is that generally THE SA VO UR Y OMELETTE. 1 8 1 known as " aux fines herbes : — tlie ordinary one is simply made of eggs flavoured with salt. Though cream is an improvement, it is not essential. I confess tliat I like a very little minced onion in all savoury omelettes, but this is a matter of taste, and where ladies are concerned, the fragrant bulb ought perhaps to be omitted. The general rules to be observed in omelette-making, then, may be thus summed up :— 1. Use a proper utensil, with narrow, well sloping sides 5 see that it is clean, and quite dry. 2. Do not overdo the amount of butter, or salad oil, that you use for the frying.

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Savory Omelette

Culinary jottings