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Omelet, with Gravy
Whisk half a dozen fresh eggs thoroughly, and mix with them a small pinch of salt, two pinches of pepper, a table-spoonful of finely-minced parsley, half a tea-spoonful of chopped onions, and two table-spoonfuls of nicely-seasoned gravy. Dissolve two ounces of fresh butter in a hot frying-pan over a gentle fire, and fry the omelet in it in the usual way. Serve it on a hot dish with half a pint of good gravy poured round it. Time to fry, six or seven minutes. Probable cost, 9d. Sufficient for three or four persons.
A plain French-style omelet enriched with meat gravy both inside and around it. The only real trap is the frying time, which belongs to a heavier Victorian pan and a slower fire than most kitchens now have.
- Six to seven minutes is too longSix eggs in a hot pan over modern gas or induction will be set in two to three minutes, and browning them for seven will give a rubbery, leathery result. Cook over medium heat, drawing the setting edges in, and roll it out while the centre is still slightly loose.
- What "gravy" means hereNot a flour-thickened pan sauce but a reduced brown meat stock or the strained juices from a roast, seasoned and often lightly bound. A good reduced beef or veal stock, or well-skimmed roasting-pan juices, is the closest equivalent.
- Half a pintAn imperial half-pint is 10 fl oz, about 11⁄4 US cups. That is a generous pool for a six-egg omelet; a scant cup is plenty unless you want it soupy.
- Two ounces of butterAbout 4 tablespoons, which reflects a pan that was seasoned iron rather than non-stick. Half that will do in a modern 10-inch pan, though the extra butter does contribute to the flavour.
- Pan sizeSix eggs need a 10-inch pan. In anything smaller the omelet is too deep to set evenly and you will end up overcooking the outside to firm the middle.
- Warm the plate and the gravyThe dish is served with hot gravy poured around, not over, so the top stays dry. Have the gravy at a simmer and the dish genuinely hot before the eggs go into the pan.
- Probable cost, 9dNinepence in Victorian money, part of the costing convention Cassell's used throughout so that a housekeeper could budget a meal. It carries no useful information for a modern shopper beyond telling you this was regarded as a cheap dish.
- YieldThree to four as the book says, but only as part of a larger meal. As a main course with bread and salad it serves two.
Cassell's places this among the basic exercises of the omelet, of which the dictionary carries a long run — plain, with herbs, with kidney, with ham, sweet ones with jam. The addition of gravy both to the egg mixture and around the finished omelet suits a Victorian kitchen that had a stockpot always going and a habit of tying dishes together with brown sauce, though a cordon of jus or brown sauce was no stranger to French practice either. The small quantity of gravy beaten into the eggs also does something practical, loosening the mixture so it stays tender. The book feels no need to explain how to make the gravy here.