In the Journal of Jean Heroard (1551-1628), doctor of the young future king Louis XIII, we could read : "often, in the afternoon, the young prince feels very hungry, so my sweet wife prepares for him a small dish of 'oeufs-meslette' (old French for 'oeufs mélés' literally translated in English as 'mixed/scrambled eggs')". In other words, this journal is the start point of one of the origins of the word 'omelette'. After some research in ancient books, the following recipe is the oldest recipe of omelettes I could find. It was published in the Third book of the "Délices de la Campagne" ('delights of the countryside') by the famous Nicolas de Bonnefons.
This omelette is called "Omelette à la Célestine" and the recipe is detailed as follows :
" The omelette is done in a small pan as large as you want. You heat it well and then you pour in it some good olive oil and then you pour your beaten eggs and some good fresh butter.
You whisk and stir with a stick as if you were preparing a porridge.
Then, when you consider the omelette is dry enough, you present it upside down. It has to be approximately 2 inches thick because you will slice it as a cake".
And now to start with, the base recipe of the :
the rolled omelette Following is a non exhaustive list of recipes of omelettes. Do not miss the sweet ones, inventive, simple and delicious.
'CLASSIC' FILLED IN OMELETTES
Grated Gruyère cheese
York style ham
Panfried (hashbrown) potatoes
Herbs (mixed with the eggs)
Panfried diced bacon
Croûtons
OMELETTES FILLED IN WITH VEGETABLES
Ratatouille from Nice
Piperade
Confit-tomatoes
Tapenade
Sorrel with cream
Onions pickled in beer
Spinach cooked in 'meunière' butter
Dice of courgette (zucchini) with garlic
OMELETTES FILLED IN WITH SHELLFISH AND FISH
Dice of fresh salmon
Dice of smoked salmon
Panfried sliced scallops
Panfried queen scallops
Mussels
Cockles
Sea urchin (a top)
Just panfried red (spiny) or blue lobster medaillons
Crayfish tails
(Edible) crab meat
Cod (or other fish) brandade (puree)
OMELETTES FILLED IN WITH MUSHROOMS
panfried-ceps
Chanterelles
Saint George's mushroom or morels with cream
Thinly sliced panfried button mushrooms
Fresh black truffles slices with parmesan cheese slices (outstanding)
OMELETTES FILLED IN WITH MEAT
Dice of cooked chicken, guinea fowl, female pheasant, young partridge
Thin slices of saussages (Frankfurt, Morteau ...)
Panfried fat duck liver and apple (a top)
Dice of panfried fresh or smoked fat duck breast filet
Potted meat of pork, goose, duck or of young rabbit with mustard
Escalopes of panfried eweetbread
Duck or goose wing or leg confit (boneless and skin and fat less)
Black saussage
Panfried andouillette slices
With snails
OMELETTES FILLED IN WITH CHEESE AND OTHER
Dice of Cantal cheese with ceps
Dice of Comté (Gruyère cheese like) with dried beef
Dice of rindless camembert and of apple
Mashed roquefort with crushed walnuts
Slices of Sainte-Maure (goat) cheese with grilled pine nuts
SWEET OMELETTES
5 eggs for 2 persons - always add one hint of salt and 2 soup spoon of sugar
WARNING: BRACE YOURSELF AND LET DIETS GO TO HELL !
Slices of panfried banana flambé with rhum
Slices of panfried banana with liquid chocolate
Peeled prunes and Armagnac
Stoned and panfried apricots or mirabelles, quetsches, peaches etc...
Orange segments with curaçao (orange brandy)
Apple segments panfried and flambé with Calvados (apple brandy)
Clementine segments panfried and flambé with Grand Marnier
Nutella and crushed and roasted hazelnuts
Panfried and caramelized apple segments with mapple sirup
Mashed chestnut with vailla and roasted pine nuts
Dice of black or milk chocolate + half a caramelized banana
And of course, any jam, marmalade, fruit in sirup, etc...
As you can see, choices are infinite and I did not even mention other preparation families such as salted and sweet soufflé omelettes, flambé omelettes and what about flat omelettes and tortillas.
Actually it is now clear that you cannot not find any reason any more for not preparing either a light dinner or an afterschool snack for your children !
