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Savory Omelet
4 whites of eggs 1 ounce of butter Pepper 1 teaspoon chopped parsley 1 small onion Salt Beat the whites to rather a stiff froth, add the parsley and onion chopped very fine, and the pepper and salt. Melt butter in the frying pan, pour in the mixture, and stir till just set. Cook until a golden brown.
A four-white omelet from the chapter on using up whites left over from custards and mayonnaise. It is a fast dish with one real difficulty: egg white toughens sooner than yolk does.
- Low heat, short timeWhites alone set at a lower temperature than whole eggs and turn squeaky and rubbery if pushed. Keep the pan at medium-low and pull it off while the center is still glossy; the "golden brown" of the original is the outer limit, not the target.
- 1 ounce of butterTwo tablespoons. That is generous for four whites, and deliberately so — there is no fat in the whites themselves, so the butter is carrying all the richness.
- Beating, then stirringThe recipe has you beat to a stiff froth and then stir the mixture in the pan, which knocks most of the air back out. If you want the puffed texture the froth implies, fold the seasonings in gently and let it set undisturbed; if you follow the instruction as written, expect a flat scrambled omelet.
- Salt at the last momentSalt added before beating slackens beaten whites. Season after the froth has formed, or fold it in with the parsley and onion.
- The onion"A small onion" raw and finely chopped is assertive against so mild a base. Softening it in the butter first, then letting the pan cool slightly before the whites go in, gives a sweeter result.
- Pan sizeAn 8-inch skillet suits four whites; anything wider spreads the mixture too thin to stay tender.
- YieldOne generous serving or two small ones, with toast. Egg whites carry no fat and little flavor, so this wants something alongside it.
Books of this kind kept a standing chapter on whites of eggs because a nineteenth- and early twentieth-century kitchen produced them constantly as a by-product: boiled custards, ice creams, curds, mayonnaise and gold cake all called for yolks alone, and the leftover whites would not keep long in an icebox. Meringues and angel cake absorbed some of them; savory dishes like this omelet absorbed the rest. What it tells you about the period is mostly about thrift: nothing edible was allowed to leave the kitchen unused, and a dish of parsley, onion, butter and four whites counted as a proper supper course.