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Ham Omelet
Mince one ounce of ham very finely, and, if uncooked, fry it for a minute or two in a little butter. Break four eggs into a basin, beat them well, and stir in with them the minced ham and a quarter of a tea-spoonful of pepper. Pour two ounces of butter or lard into the frying-pan; when hot add the eggs, and stir quickly until the mixture sets. Shake the pan for a minute or two, to prevent burning, then double up the omelet, and when one side is brightly browned, turn it over on a hot dish, and serve Time, five minutes to fry the omelet. Probable cost, 7d. Sufficient for three persons.
A plain French-style folded omelet, scaled for a Victorian breakfast table. Two details need translating: the fat is heavy by modern standards, and the salt is missing on purpose.
- No salt, and whyThe recipe seasons only with pepper; the ham was presumably expected to supply the salt, though Victorian recipes often leave salt unstated in any case. Taste the ham first; a mild modern deli ham may want a pinch, a dry-cured one will not.
- Cut the fatTwo ounces (4 tablespoons) of butter in the pan for four eggs is far more than a non-stick or well-seasoned pan needs. One tablespoon is ample, and a lighter pan of fat browns the omelet more evenly.
- Pan sizeFour eggs want an 8-9 inch pan. Wider and the omelet sets too thin to fold; narrower and the centre stays wet while the base colours.
- The hinge: stop stirring earlyStir only until the eggs are in soft curds with visible liquid remaining, then leave the pan alone to set the base. Cooking until fully firm before folding gives the rubbery, weeping result these old omelets are unfairly blamed for.
- Cook the ham if rawThe instruction to fry uncooked ham for a minute or two assumes a thin mince of raw cured ham. If using raw ham, make sure it is cooked through before it goes into the eggs rather than relying on the brief time in the omelet.
- "Brightly browned"This recipe asks for a coloured surface; contemporary practice favours a pale gold underside and a barely set interior. Either is correct, but the browner version wants a lower heat so the inside is not overcooked by the time the surface takes colour.
- Turning out"Turn it over on a hot dish" means tipping the already-doubled omelet out of the pan onto a warmed dish, browned side showing. Cold plates chill an omelet within seconds.
- Yield and costThree servings is generous by modern portioning; four eggs will more comfortably feed two. The 7d. costing is a period household-budget figure and has no useful modern equivalent.
Cassell's places this in a run of omelet variations that all work through the same basic method, repeating it in full for each entry, which is how nineteenth-century English cookery books taught the dish: learn the plain omelet, then ring the changes with ham, herbs, kidney, cheese or jam. The omelet reached English kitchens as an unmistakably French preparation, and the style described here is the folded, briefly cooked one rather than the flat, set egg cake, though both appear in English books of the period. Ham was the obvious addition in a British household because a cured ham hung in most larders that could afford one, and an ounce of scraps minced fine was a way of putting the last of it to use. The costing in pence, given for many of the recipes, suggests a manual for a mistress managing a budget and a servant rather than for a professional kitchen.