““Omelet,” said Lord Caterham, lifting each lid in turn. “Eggs and bacon, kidneys, devilled bird, haddock, cold ham, cold pheasant. I don’t like any of these things, Tredwell, ask the cook to poach me an egg, will you?””
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Take six ounces of cold coiled ham, and mince it very fine, adding a little pepper. Beat separately the whites and yolks of six eggs, and then mix them together add to them gradually the minced ham. Beat the whole very hard, and do not let it stand a moment after it is thoroughly mixed. Have ready some boiling lard in a frying-pan, and put in the omelet immediately. Fry it about ten minutes or a quarter of an hour. When done, put it on a hot dish, trim off the edges, and fold it over in a half moon. Send it to table hot, and covered. It is eaten at breakfast. If you wish a soft omelet, (not to fold over,) fry it a shorter time, and serve it in a deep dish, to be helped with a spoon. A similar omelet may be made of the lean of a cold smoked tongue.
Sources: The passage is from Agatha Christie, The Secret of Chimneys, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Leslie, Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches of 1837, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — plum cloth, boar stamp.