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Omelette, Mousseuse
Place a gill of thick cream in a bowl, set bowl on the ice and whisk it up to a froth. Crack eight fresh eggs into the cream, season with a half teaspoon salt, a saltspoon each cayenne pepper and grated nutmeg, and whisk for two minutes. Heat one ounce fresh butter in a clean frying pan, drop in the eggs, mix with a fork for two minutes and let rest for half a minute; fold up the opposite sides to meet in the centre, let rest for a minute, turn on a hot dish and serve.
A rolled French omelette enriched with whipped cream — "mousseuse" meaning frothy. The whole thing takes under five minutes at the stove, so measure and season before the butter goes in.
- The hinge: keep the pan moderateWhipped cream and eight eggs make a loose, airy mass that scorches easily and will not set evenly over high heat. Medium heat, butter foaming but not browning, and constant movement with the fork for the first two minutes.
- A gillHalf a cup, 4 fl oz. Use heavy or double cream; cream much below about 30% fat will not hold a froth.
- SaltspoonA small measure from a Victorian cruet set, usually reckoned at a quarter teaspoon. For cayenne here, a pinch is closer to what modern palates want; the nutmeg can take the full quarter teaspoon.
- Chilling the bowl"Set bowl on the ice" means over ice, not in it. A metal bowl in the freezer for ten minutes does the same job — cold cream whips faster and holds more air.
- Whisk the eggs briefly, not thoroughlyTwo minutes of whisking is enough to combine; beating much past that knocks the air back out of the cream.
- Pan sizeEight eggs need a 10- to 12-inch pan with sloping sides, well seasoned or nonstick. In a smaller pan the mixture is too deep to set before the base overcooks.
- Folding and finish"Fold up the opposite sides to meet in the centre" gives a plump three-fold roll, not the flat half-moon. The centre should still be soft and slightly runny when it leaves the pan; it will carry on setting on the hot dish.
- YieldServes three to four as a lunch or supper dish. It collapses within a few minutes, so plate and eat it straight away.
The mousseuse belongs to the classical French repertoire of omelette variations that professional kitchens catalogued by the dozen — plain, aux fines herbes, au fromage, soufflée, mousseuse. The name simply describes the texture: whipped cream folded into the eggs gives a lighter, foamier crumb than eggs alone, halfway between an omelette and a soufflé.