by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: December 28, 2008

There are two types of omelette most common in the world today: what tends to be the lighter, fluffier, French style omelette and the heavier, more substantial Spanish style. There is no doubt in my mind that I prefer the Spanish style by a long way but as basic omelette preparation - as this article series is titled - generally refers to the French variety, that is what I shall write to.

It is very common for chefs or cooks applying for a position of employment to be "interviewed," or perhaps more accurately, "tested," by asking them to prepare a basic omelette. The chef conducting the examination will be looking at both the candidate's technique and the finished result. How they prepare their simple omelette may well determine whether they get the position or not.

It is one of the requirements when preparing a French style omelette that the finished dish be extremely light, with that "melts in the mouth" quality. I am therefore going to share with you a technique which I learned in childhood from a man giving a public display in omelette making at a local "home fair," for want of a better expression - I can't recall what it was officially called! I remember the extremely friendly man being pleased by my childish fascination with his craft and giving me a few tips.

The ingredients we will require are three large eggs, a knob of butter (unfortunately, a healthy oil does not provide adequate substitution in this instance) and some salt and freshly ground black pepper - that's it!

The first step in this technique is to separate the albumin (egg white) from the yolk of each egg. There are various gadgets which can do this for us but the best way is simply to crack the egg in half and move the yolk from one half to the other, back and forward, over a bowl until all the albumin is in the bowl and we are left only with the yolk. We then beat the egg whites until they are just beginning to attain that light, opaque consistency we associate with meringue making - don't over do it, as we do not want meringues! Quickly beat the seasoned yolks thereafter in a different bowl and fold them carefully into the whites so as to release as little of the incorporated air as possible.

Melt the butter in a non-stick omelette pan and carefully pour in the egg mix. Cook over a medium heat, working your way around the pan with a plastic spatula, drawing the edges in towards the centre until the omelette appears to be about two-thirds set. At this stage, refrain from this practise and allow the omelette to set in full. Flip one side over the other and serve immediately.

This is of course the basic preparation and does not offer any filling recipes. Whatever we are adding to the omelette as a filling should be added to one half only just as the omelette appears to be set, with the other half subsequently folded on top.

I hope that this article affords a little further insight in to the art of omelette making and that you will try this technique out for yourself with as much success as I have often known.

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