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Egg Dishes: Frittata
No. 205. Frittata di funghi (Mushroom Omelette) Ingredients: Mushrooms, butter, eggs, bread crumbs, Parmesan, marjoram, garlic.
Clean four or five mushrooms, cut them up, and put them into a frying-pan with one and a half ounce of butter, a clove of garlic with two cuts in it, and a little salt; fry them lightly till the mushrooms are nearly cooked, and then take out the garlic. In the meantime beat up separately the yolks and the whites of two or three eggs, add a little crumb of bread soaked in water, a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan, and two leaves of marjoram; go on beating all up until the crumb of bread has become entirely absorbed by the eggs, then pour this mixture into the frying pan with the mushrooms, mix all well together and make an omelette in the usual way.
No. 206. Frittata con con Pomidoro (Tomato Omelette) Ingredients: Eggs, tomatoes, butter, marjoram, parsley, spice. Peel two tomatoes and take out the seeds; then mix them with an ounce of butter, chopped marjoram, parsley, and a tiny pinch of spice.
Add three eggs beaten up (the yolks and whites separately), and make an omelette. No. 207. Frittata con Asparagi (Asparagus Omelette) Ingredients: Eggs, asparagus, butter, ham, herbs, cheese.
Blanch a dozen heads of asparagus and cook them slightly, then cut them up and mix with two ounces of butter, bits of cut-up ham, herbs, and a tablespoonful of grated Parmesan. Add them to three beaten-up eggs and make an omelette.
No. 208. Frittata con erbe (Omelette with Herbs) Ingredients: Eggs, onions, sorrel, mint, parsley, asparagus, marjoram, salt, pepper, of grated Parmesan, chopped butter.
Chop a little sorrel, a small bit of onion, mint, parsley, marjoram, and fry in two ounces of butter, add some cut-up asparagus, salt, and pepper. Then add three eggs beaten up and a little grated cheese, and make your omelette.
No. 209. Frittata Montata (Omelette Soufflé) Ingredients: Eggs, Parmesan, pepper, parsley.
Beat up the whites of three eggs to a froth and the yolks separately with a tablespoonful parsley, and a little pepper.
Then mix them and make a light omelette.
No. 210. Frittata di Prosciutto (Ham Omelette) Ingredients: Eggs, ham, Parmesan, mint, pepper, clotted cream.
Beat up three eggs and add to them two tablespoonsful of clotted cream, one tablespoonful of chopped ham, one of grated Parmesan, chopped mint and a little pepper, and make the omelette in the usual way.
Six variations on one method, all built on the same frame: a filling softened in butter, eggs beaten with the whites separate, and a brief turn in the pan. The Italian frittata of 1901 is closer to a French omelette than to the thick baked wedge sold under the name today.
- Whites and yolks beaten apartNos. 205, 206 and 209 specify beating the whites and the yolks separately; the other three simply say the eggs are beaten up. Where the whites are whisked and folded in, the result is a puffed, tender set that sinks soon after leaving the pan, so have plates ready and serve immediately.
- Pan size and heatThree eggs suit an 8-inch nonstick or well-seasoned pan over medium heat. Higher heat browns the outside before the aerated centre sets.
- The garlic cloveIn No. 205 the clove is scored, fried whole and lifted out. It is there to perfume the butter, not to be eaten, so do not chop it and do not let it colour past pale gold or the mushrooms will taste scorched.
- Bread crumb soaked in waterThis means the soft interior crumb of a stale loaf, not dried crumbs from a canister. Soak, squeeze nearly dry, and beat until it disappears into the eggs; it lightens the mixture and absorbs the mushroom liquid.
- "A tiny pinch of spice"The original does not say which. Nutmeg is a plausible choice for the tomato omelette, and a mixed spice with mace or cinnamon is possible, but the book leaves it open.
- Butter quantitiesAn ounce is 2 tablespoons, an ounce and a half is 3. Two ounces of butter for a dozen asparagus heads or a handful of herbs is generous by current taste; half that is enough unless you want the richness.
- Clotted creamNo. 210 calls for clotted cream, thick and lightly cooked. Ordinary heavy cream will do, though the ham omelette loses some of its body; crème fraîche or mascarpone is nearer the original texture.
- TomatoesPeel by scoring and dropping into boiling water for 20 seconds. Seed them and drain the flesh well, or the water thins the eggs and prevents them setting.
- YieldEach of these makes one omelette from two or three eggs: one substantial serving, or two if part of a larger meal.
The Cook's Decameron (1901), compiled by Mrs W. G. Waters, borrows Boccaccio's structure: a company of ten, ten days of talk, and in this case Italian recipes handed round in place of stories. The frittata section reflects a turn-of-the-century English interest in Italian home cooking; Pellegrino Artusi's La scienza in cucina (1891) handles frittate on similar lines, a butter-fried filling stirred into beaten egg, though any direct debt is unproven. Frittata comes from friggere, to fry. Worth noting that the thick, slow-cooked, knife-and-fork frittata familiar today is not what these instructions produce: "make an omelette in the usual way" points to a soft folded omelette turned out of the pan in a minute or two.