Omelets??

In my opinion, classic omelette should not become brown. 

 

The trick is to cook omelette through and get nice sunny gold color of both sides... At least, that's an omelette appearance that I saw in France many times.

 

Usually people fold omelette and flip it or roll it using pan's wall in order to avoid overcooking and keep color right.

No brown.  Maybe a little, but that makes the egg hard.  An omelet is a scrambled egg in a shell made out of an egg.  You scramble the eggs in a bowl, then put it in the pan.  Allow the bottom to cook and then scrape it off with a spatula while tilting the pan so the rest of the egg goes underneath.   When it's done you fold it.  A classic omelet is actually a tri fold or kinda like a loose roll.  You fold a third by flipping it up the side of the pan (still same side down), then you slide it onto the plate while using the edge of the pan to fold the other third over.  Roll it over seam side down.

We just had a discussion about this last week here http://www.cheftalk.com/t/68811/the-very-best-omelette-recipes  Part of the discussion shows Jacques Pepin's video on omelet method.  Cooking an omelet is a matter of technique and good ingredients.  Personally I do not like any brown on my eggs.

A "classic" French, country-style omelet usually has a fair bit of brown.  Not just my opinion, Pepin's (and a lot of other people's) as well.  FWIW, the brown comes more from the browned butter than from anything else.  Just sayin'.  Of course, however you like your eggs is however you like them and you should not only enjoy whatever you like, when you're my guest I'll do my best to make them that way. 

 

I like mine browned or unbrowned; pancake, tortilla, folded or rolled; thin an fluffy; salami, lox, mushrooms, huitlacoche, cheese, cheese and whatever, spinach mushrooms and jack cheese, nopales, chilis, stuffed with whatever, or herb only; or just about any way but overcooked and dry.  But then, I'm picky.

 

BDL

 

Excerpt from a New York Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/dining/jacques-pepin-demonstrates-cooking-techniques.html?pagewanted=all

Mr. Pépin keeping the eggs constantly in motion. He’d shake the pan like a tambourine, then stop and very quickly scrape off the papery edges of egg that would slosh up the sides, then shake again.

“I move this as much as I can, as fast as I can, so it’s the smallest curd possible,” he said. “I don’t let it brown on the top. Because browning will indicate that it has toughened the albumen.”

 

 

Thanks for the correction Chef.  It's true, I did use the term in reference to a country style omelet, while Pepin refers to (what I'd call) Parisian style as "classic French" in differentiation from "country."

 

If you look at the video posted in post 7 of the previous omelet thread you can see that Pepin's country style (folded) omelet has quite a bit of brown, unlike the Parisian style omelet he's talking about in the NY Times interview and the second part of the already referenced video.  I suppose the question of whether brown is a good thing or not in French style omelets comes down to whether you choose to believe the NYT or video Pepin.  FWIW, the famous "Omelette di Mere Poulard" at St Michel -- indisputably the most "classic French" omelets of all -- show more than a little brown as well:

 

 

You'd think that by this time, I'd have learned not to trust my lying eyes. 

 

BDL

Edited by boar_d_laze - 1/28/12 at 8:22am

Given a choice of Pepins, I would go with the non browning Pepin because " browning will indicate that it has toughened the albumen".

Brown vs. no brown.  LOL!   Food people are nuts.

 

As it was explained to me in orientation, it is a highly desirable trait and quickly becoming a requirement!

Edited by cheflayne - 1/28/12 at 8:57am

I was always taught by real European Chefs  many years ago that a Classic French  Omelette had No brown edges and was slightly creamy on inside in a 3 fold. All done with the wrist. An American one was a twofold and could be brownesd a bit. It was let to set on one side then flipped. A frittatta  was opened and evenly browned all over.  Things may have changed but I haven't  (just stubborn I guess)

 

You'll have to go to Mount Saint-Michel and tell them they've been making "American omelettes" for the last thousand years. 

 

BDL

Edited by boar_d_laze - 1/29/12 at 10:01am

A frittata is browned and there is a variation of it in other cultures (other than Italian). The eggs are scrambled and other ingredients are incorporated and the outside of the eggs are caramelized. It's a different way of forming a package. A classic omelet is creamy and folded over (like an envelope) the filling as I understand it. I think the goal - for a classic omelet-is perfect and unblemished -No brown bits-but I don't think you'd be penalized in an informal setting. What I mean is- where is this omelet being prepared and for whom?

 

 

There were no such word as "omelette" one thousand years ago. 

 

But thank you for video and mentioning of this type of omelette. It looks to me that they are making something similar to an "herbolace". And it is very interesting.

Okay, 700 years. 

 

If I'm not mistaken the Romans, in their Latin speaking days, called what we'd call omelettes "patinae."  Rabelais used "homelaicte d'oeufs" (okay, I admit to reading Pantagruel in translation); but  what's in a name? 

 

The Mt. Saint-Michel omelettes are nothing at all like an herbolace.  An herbolace is an English sort of cheese pie with indentations in the cheese, and eggs baked into the indentations.  As far as I know (not very) it's usually made in a top and bottom crust. The Saint-Michel omelettes are just eggs beaten thick, and cooked in butter over an open fire.  Hot fire, hot pan, hot butter, brown bottom.  The eggs are not baked on cheese or on or in a crust. 

 

As far as I know anyway.

 

BDL

 

OK. I forget just how long it's been, but it's been since the first (lately, not old) omelet thread was started, that I've been trying to make them like Pepin. I can't do it. Using a good glob of butter wipes out any chance that mine won't be "browned". Still, there aint'e one bit of toughness in them, so that part I'll just contest. Having any "brown", to my palate, is no problemmo. I think that "tough albumen" part is all a French attitude difficulty thing. After that, no way in hey can I get a 3-egg omelet that small and thin to fold up like any of the vids. Mine are all big thick and fluffy (and all cooked through, just barely, but still). NO, my omelets are not just a big half-round solid scrambled egg plate. My 2-egg omelets come out very big, making a nice meal. Mine are done completely on top of the stove, 95% on one(1) side, flipped twice and then folded. They are not so hard-cooked that the folded inside part will stick together still. There is no runny part though. I've never had any sent back. Frittatas are an entirely different dish and a different story. 

 

Don't worry, just keep at it.  It took me lots of practice to be able to make a 3-fold omelet like Pepin.  I had to put my own spin on it though.  I found that a rubber spatula helped a lot.  I do not flip it.  I keep it on the lowest setting possible and put a lid on it to ensure the top steams a bit.  Just keep at it.

 

 

 

Not exactly. There are some receipts of herbolace-herbolat-erbolat that don't mention cheese. For example, the one from "The Forme of Cury" calls for a lot of herbs, but there is no cheese. As for me, I think that the key point of herbolace was an idea of pouring eggs mixture into an iron pan and frying it over open fire. That's exactly what we see in case of Mt. St. Michel omelette's. And I think that a dish with a new name "omelette" appeared when stoves became popular in Europe. But that's just my humble theory of course.

 

BTW, I checked what Gallica Library says about Mt. Saint Michel omelette and it looks like this kind of omelette has appeared in a second half of 19th century when Mme. Poulard began cooking it for very rare (just imagine that!) visitors of monastery. :)

 

ps. Please don't think that I'm arguing, or want to say you're wrong, or something like that. Actually, I'm just guessing and trying to find a little bit more information. If I'm looking not polite, that's definitely because of my far-from-good written English.

 

Not brown, you should shake the pan and scrambled the eggs at the same time to prevent the egg from browning and to incorporate air as well. A classic omelet is little runny but you can flip it and add filling to serve your particular need.

There are plenty of cookbooks and literary reference to back up the idea that omelettes -- by that name or something recognizably close -- were well into the French and English mainstream by the 16th C.  I tried researching contemporaneous recipes but after spending as much time as I cared to spend came up with zip. 

 

I know when Mere Poulard started serving the famous Mont Saint Michel omelettes -- around 1875 -- but it was my impression her omelettes were simply a variation on a common, Norman style and had been around the area since Moses wore shorts.  

 

In any case, I stand by my contention that plenty of "authentic" omelettes in France show quite a bit of brown; and that the omelettes of Mere Poulard are among them; and that they are "classic" by any reasonable -- other than purely technical -- sense of the word.  If by "classic" we mean haute cuisine of the early twentieth Century, as propagated and described by Escoffier, and refer specifically to the sort of omelette aux fines herbes Escoffier served, then "no brown."  If by "classic," we mean typical and widely and long established, then some brown at least is okay.

 

I happen to like omelets (not the spelling change as we segue to the US), just about any which way except overcooked.  I don't fancy myself a great omelet technician, but have no trouble getting some brown on the eggs without toughening.  Nor do I have any trouble cooking the eggs to the French semi/custard consistency without browning.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a "classic" (in the hyper-technical) French omelette which has been flipped.  The whole idea of that sort of omelette is that one side of the egg mass is completely but barely cooked, while the other side is not quite or barely just set; so that when the omelette is rolled, the consistency is indefinite -- neither one thing nor the other, and never dry.  If you want well-set eggs, you're barking up the wrong tree, at least as far as the Escoffier "classic" -- and definitely no flipping.

 

That doesn't mean I look down my elegant aquiline nose (okay, it's neither, not to mention broken a few times) at flipped omelets.  One of my most favorite omelets is "salami and eggs pancake (not folded) style."  I'm not about to turn that nose up at a tortilla Espanola either. 

 

BDL

OK. I'm curious here.  What's with the love for semi-cooked omelet eggs? Why should they, or why do they have to be, runny? I've never seen a person ever want to eat uncooked albumin. Runny yolks, as in "sunny-side up", my own personal favorite, oh yeah, but never runny whites. An omelet, for not much other difference, is just scrambled eggs. Why would you want them partially raw? TIA for some help here. 

 

Just out of chance, I hit the Wikipedia page for "Omelette". This is the first pic they include: 

There is a lot of "brown" on that jobbie. It's beautiful. That's what mine look like, but mine are much thicker looking. 

 

I agree with BDL. So, you may be interested to know, does Pepin. If you watch the DVD from which that bit is ripped, you'll see him make two kinds of omelets, which he describes as the "country-style" and the "classic." He does both beautifully, and they look delicious, but they are certainly different things. As he says, "it's not that one is necessarily better than the other, it's just a different way of doing it." He's done that routine in several books and DVDs, so let's not take him entirely out of context, OK?

 

The "country-style" omelet is flipped and browned. To achieve this result without overcooking, as BDL notes, much of the browning comes from using a lot of butter and cooking over very high heat so that the butter browns. That way the omelet is in and out of the pan quickly, so the inside is nice and moist, but the outside browns beautifully. The curds are relatively large, such that part of the attraction is a pleasant contrast among several different mouth-feels in one bite.

 

The "classic" omelet is cooked over slightly lower heat, so the butter won't brown, and you keep the pan and the eggs moving very fast at all times, giving you extremely small curds. The result is very pale yellow and extremely moist.

 

Personally, I happen to like classic omelets more than country-style ones, but I don't accept the notion that there is something intrinsically bad about browning eggs or omelets. What is bad is when the outside is browned hard, which is not the same thing as browned, especially when the inside is not just moist but runny. This happens when you cook too much egg too slowly and don't allow things to set properly. My mother makes omelets this way, and my wife and I keep trying to come up with ways to convince her that she'd rather do something else -- say, play with her grandchildren -- while I cook the eggs instead.

I prefer non-browned.  I believe I can smell/taste an objectionable flavor when eggs are browned, even a little bit.

Not only that they get tougher.

Flip if you want but no brown, It just takes a lot of practice and knowing how high the heat should be

The classic French style indeed has a creamy center(not runny) as people stated.. It is made  in 1 part of pan only. The part furthest away from you toward front of burner. The pan is constantly moved by holding handle in one hand and with other pan tapping the wrist of that hand which makes it constantly move in a circular type motion.(up and over) It takes a while to master this movement , and in Europe they spent a lot of time teaching us this.

      It is never flipped over like an American style country .omelet nor is it allowed any brown edges. The cheese or meat filling is put in the mixture when it is starting to set in the pan , not before . In fact many places in France when you apply to chef for Job, they test your ability by telling you ""Make me an omelet and fine dice(brunoise ) an onion.""  Do it right and he considers hireing you. do it wrong, Bye Bye.

 

PS it is always the last thing on the waiters order that is made to keep that soft center, Never held under heat lamps like here.

 

Does anyone know what is an'' Omelet Norvegian'' is ? without looking on web or dictionary now . no cheating.(I have not heard term used here for over 40 years, but Europe it is used.

Norwegian is aka "Baked Alaska." AFAIK and FWI, most people tap the pan and not their wrist. When making that kind of "omelette," I don't bother with either -- just shake the pan. What specific kind of pan must be used? I know what I like, which is either regular flared or Lyonnaise rolled, but don't think either is required. If you use the wrong pan, will the customer send it back?

I think we're really overtraining on the word "classic." There are a lot of kinds omelets in France, including souffle, country-style and so on; and they've all been around long enough and in good enough kitchens for the word to apply. As I use and understand the term, a lot of those are as classic as the Parisienne, old-haute style Pepin called "classic." I'm not arguing with him, but suspect that starting with French as a first language, then learning to cook professionally in France has more to do with it than a universally accepted definition; or for that matter a prevalent style of cooking.

I doubt many restaurant kitchens in France or elsewhere say "make me an omelet" as the first part of the hiring process anymore... if they ever did. Sounds a lot more like myth than reality to me.

At my first job the owner said, "Sure son, you can help out if you have the time." At my second, the chef said, "Okay kollitch boy, you tink you can do a real chob cookin' die real kvizine?" At my third, the owner said, "I called the Blue Fox (second job) and Rolf said you were very good on the grill and at saute. Is he as much a terror as everyone says? We'd love to try you out. What would you say are the differences between bourgeois and haute? Do you speak French? Or just German?" (For the record, Rolf was a terror; knife-work, hot-pan technique, saucing, sieving, pricing; I didn't (and still don't) speak either, but could and can read enough French to follow a recipe, and could and can do deadly impressions with a variety of French and German accents). Moral of the story: No omelets.

BDL
Edited by boar_d_laze - 2/6/12 at 9:42am

I think a good way to describe the trifold rolled and shaped omelet with no brown is to call it a hotel omelet.