OMELETS.--It is a strange fact, but not the less true, that to get a well-made omelet in a private house in this country is the exception and not the rule. A few general remarks on making omelets will, we hope, not be out of place in writing a book on an exceptional style of cookery, in which omelets should play a most important part.

First of all, we require an omelet-pan, and for this purpose the cheaper the frying-pan the better. The best omelet-pan of all is a copper one, tinned inside. Copper conveys heat quicker than almost any other metal; consequently, if we use an ordinary frying-pan, the thinner it is the quicker will heat be conveyed.

It is very essential that the frying-pan be absolutely clean, and it will be found almost essential to reserve the omelet-pan for omelets only. A frying-pan that has cooked meat should not be used for the purpose; and although in vegetarian cookery a frying-pan has not been used in this manner, we should still avoid one in which onions or vegetables, or even black b.u.t.ter has been made. The inside of an omelet-pan should always look as if it had only just left the ironmonger's shop.

The next great question is, how much b.u.t.ter should be allowed for, say, six eggs? On this point the greatest authorities differ. We will first quote our authorities, and then attempt to give an explanation that reconciles the difference. A plain omelet may be roughly described as settings of eggs well beaten up by stirring them up in hot b.u.t.ter. One of the oldest cookery books we can call to mind is ent.i.tled "The Experienced English Housekeeper," by Elizabeth Raffald. The book, which was published in 1775, is dedicated to the Hon. Lady Elizabeth Warburton, whom the auth.o.r.ess formerly served. as housekeeper. The recipe is ent.i.tled "To make an amulet." The book states, "Put a quarter of a pound of b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, break six eggs"; Francatelli also gives four ounces of b.u.t.ter to six eggs.

On the other hand, Soyer, the great cook, gives two ounces of b.u.t.ter to six eggs; so also does the equally great Louis Eustache Ude, cook to Louis XVI.

We may add that "Ca.s.sell's Dictionary of Cookery" recommended two ounces of b.u.t.ter to six eggs, whilst "Ca.s.sell's Shilling Cookery" recommends four eggs.

The probable reason why two such undoubtedly great authorities as Soyer and Francatelli should differ is that in making one kind of omelet you would use less b.u.t.ter than in making another. Francatelli wrote for what may be described as that "high cla.s.s cooking suited for Pall Mall clubs," where no one better than himself knew how best to raise the jaded appet.i.te of a wealthy epicure. Soyer's book was written for the people.

There are two kinds of omelets, one in which the egg is scarcely beaten at all, and in which, when cooked, the egg appears set in long streaks. There is also the richer omelet, which is sent to table more resembling a light pudding. For the former of these omelets, two ounces of b.u.t.ter will suffice for six eggs; for the latter of these you will require four ounces of b.u.t.ter, or else the omelet will be leathery. In Holland, Belgium, and Germany, and in country villages in France, the omelet is made, as a rule, with six eggs to two ounces of b.u.t.ter. It comes up like eggs that have been set. In the higher-cla.s.s restaurants in Paris, like Bignon's, or the Cafe Anglais, the omelet is lighter, and probably about four ounces of b.u.t.ter would be used to six eggs.

This probably explains the different directions given in various cookery books for making omelets.

OMELET, PLAIN.--Melt _four_ ounces of b.u.t.ter in a frying-pan, heat up six eggs _till they froth_; add a little pepper and salt, pour the beaten-up eggs into the frying-pan as soon as the b.u.t.ter begins to frizzle, and with a tablespoon keep sc.r.a.ping the bottom of the frying-pan in every part, not forgetting the edge. Gradually the mixture becomes lumpy; still go on sc.r.a.ping till about two-thirds or more are lumpy and the rest liquid. Now slacken the heat slightly by lifting the frying-pan from the fire, and push the omelet into half the frying-pan so that it is in the shape of a semicircle. By this time, probably, it will be nearly set. Take the frying-pan off the fire, and hold it in a slanting direction in front of the fire. When the whole is set, as it will quickly do, slide off the omelet from the frying-pan on to a hot dish with an egg-slice, and serve.

OMELET, PLAIN (ANOTHER WAY).--Put _two_ ounces of b.u.t.ter into a frying-pan, break six eggs into a basin with a little pepper and salt, _and beat them very slightly_, so that the yolks and whites are quite mixed into one, but do not beat them more than you can help, and _do not let the eggs froth_.

As soon as the b.u.t.ter frizzles, pour in the beaten eggs, sc.r.a.pe the frying-pan quickly with a spoon in every part till the mixture gets lumpy.

Now slacken the heat if the fire is fierce, and let the mixture set in the frying-pan like a pancake. As soon as it is nearly set, with perhaps only a dessertspoonful of liquid left unset, turn the omelet over, one half on to the other half, in the shape of a semicircle, and bring the spoonful of unset fluid to join them over the edge. Slide off the omelet on to a hot dish with an egg-slice.

OMELET WITH FINE HERBS.--Chop up a dessertspoonful of parsley, and add a good pinch of powdered savoury herbs, add these with pepper and salt to the six beaten-up eggs in a basin. Beat up the eggs, either slightly or very thoroughly, according to whether you use two ounces of b.u.t.ter or four.

Proceed in every respect, in making the omelet, as directed for plain omelet above.

OMELET WITH ONION.--Proceed exactly as in the above recipe, only adding to the chopped parsley a piece of onion or shallot about as big as the top of the thumb down to the first joint, also very finely chopped. When onion is used in making an omelet a little extra pepper should be added.

OMELET WITH CHEESE.--Proceed as if making an ordinary omelet, with four ounces of b.u.t.ter. Add to the six well beaten-up eggs about four ounces of grated Parmesan cheese; a small quant.i.ty of cream will be found a great improvement to this omelet. A little pepper and salt must, of course, be added as well.

POTATO OMELET.--Mix three ounces of a floury potato with six eggs, a little pepper and salt, and half a pint of milk, and make the milk boil and then stand for a couple of minutes before it is mixed with the eggs; pour this mixture into three or four ounces of b.u.t.ter, and proceed as in making an ordinary omelet.

POTATO OMELET, SWEET.--Proceed exactly as above, only instead of adding pepper and salt mix in a br.i.m.m.i.n.g tablespoonful of finely powdered sugar, the juice of a lemon, with half a grated nutmeg.

CHEESE SOUFFLE.--To make a small cheese souffle in a round cake-tin, proceed as follows:--Make the tin very hot in the oven. Put in about an ounce of b.u.t.ter, so as to make the tin oily in every part inside. The tin must be tilted so that the b.u.t.ter pours round the sides of the tin as well as the bottom. Take two eggs, separate the yolks from the whites, and beat the whites to a stiff froth; beat up the two yolks very thoroughly with a quarter of a pint of milk. Add to this two tablespoonfuls of grated Parmesan cheese; add this mixture to the beaten-up whites, and mix the whole carefully together. Now pour this mixture into the hot b.u.t.tered tin, which should be five or six inches deep, and bake it in the oven. The mixture will rise to five or six times its original depth. As soon as it is done, run with the souffle from the oven door to the dining-room door.

However quick you may be, the souffle will probably sink an inch on the way. Some cooks wrap hot flannel on the outside of the tin to keep up the heat. If you have a folded dinner napkin round the tin for appearance sake, as is usually the case, fold the napkin before you make the souffle, and make the napkin sufficiently big round that it can be dropped over the tin in an instant. The napkin should be pinned, and be quite half an inch in diameter bigger than the width of the tin. This is to save time. Delay in serving the souffle is fatal.

OMELET SOUFFLE, SWEET.--In making an omelet souffle, sweet, you can proceed in exactly the same manner as making a cheese souffle, with the exception that you add two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar instead of two tablespoonfuls of grated cheese. The omelet will, however, require flavouring of some kind, the two most delicate being vanilla and orange-flower water. You can flavour it with lemon by rubbing a few lumps of sugar on the outside of a lemon, and then pounding this with the powdered sugar. It must be pounded very thoroughly and mixed very carefully, or else one part of the omelet will taste stronger of lemon than the other. Some powdered sugar should be shaken over the top of the souffle just before serving.

OMELET SOUFFLE (ANOTHER WAY).--When a souffle is made on a larger scale, and served up on a flat dish, it is best to proceed as follows:--Take six ounces of powdered sugar, and mix them with six yolks of eggs and a dessertspoonful of flour and a pinch of salt. To this must be added whatever flavouring is used, such as vanilla. This is all mixed together till it is perfectly smooth. Next beat the six whites to a very stiff froth; mix this in with the batter lightly, put two ounces of b.u.t.ter into an omelet-pan, and as soon as the b.u.t.ter begins to frizzle pour in the mixture. As it begins to set round the edges, turn it over and heap it up in the middle, and then slide the omelet off on to a plated-edged baking dish, which must be well b.u.t.tered. Put it in the oven for about a quarter of an hour, to let it rise, shake some powdered sugar over the top, and serve very quickly.

OMELET, SWEET.--Make an ordinary plain omelet with six eggs and either two or four ounces of b.u.t.ter, as directed for making omelet, plain. Instead of adding pepper and salt to the beaten-up eggs, add one or two tablespoonfuls of finely powdered sugar. At the last moment, sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the omelet, and just glaze the sugar with a red-hot salamander.

OMELET WITH JAM.--Make a plain sweet omelet as directed above, adding rather less sugar--about half. If you make the omelet with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, and turn it over, put a couple of tablespoonfuls of jam on the omelet, and turn the half over the jam. It is best to put the jam in the oven for a minute or two to take the chill off.

If you make the omelet with four ounces of b.u.t.ter, you must put the jam by the side of the omelet and let the thin part of the omelet cover it. Of course, the question what jam is best for sweet omelet is purely a matter of taste. Most good judges consider that apricot jam is the best, and if the sweet omelet itself be flavoured with a little essence of vanilla, the result is generally considered one of the nicest sweets that can be sent to table. Strawberry jam, especially if some of the strawberries are whole, is also very nice. The objection to raspberry jam is the pips.

A most delicious omelet can be made by chopping up some preserved slices of pine-apple, and placing this in the omelet, and making the pine-apple syrup hot and pouring it round the base. Red-currant jelly, black-currant jam, and plum jam can all be used. One of the cheapest and, in the opinion of many, the best sweet omelets can be made with six eggs, two ounces of b.u.t.ter, and three or four tablespoonfuls of orange marmalade. In this case it will cost no more to rub a few lumps of sugar on the outside of an orange, and pound these with the powdered sugar you use to sweeten the omelet. If the marmalade is liquid, as it often is, one or two tablespoonfuls of the juice can be poured round the edge of the omelet.

OMELET AU RHUM.--As a rule, spirits are not allowed in vegetarian cookery.

An omelet au rhum is simply a sweet omelet, plain, with plenty of powdered sugar sprinkled over the top, with some rum ignited poured over it just before it is sent to table. The way to ignite the rum is to fill a large spoon, like a gravy-spoon, and hold a lighted wooden taper (not wax; it tastes) underneath the spoon till the rum lights. The dish should be hot.

It may be a consolation to teetotallers to reflect that the fact of burning the rum causes all the alcohol to evaporate, and there is nothing left but the flavour.

OMELET AU KIRSCH.--Proceed as above, subst.i.tuting Kirschenwa.s.ser for Rum.

OMELET, VEGETABLE.--A plain omelet can also be served with any puree of vegetables, so that we can have--Asparagus Omelet, Artichoke Omelet, French Bean Omelet, Celery Omelet, Spinach Omelet, Mushroom Omelet, Tomato Omelet, &c.

CHAPTER V.

SALADS AND SANDWICHES.

SALADS AND SANDWICHES.--Probably the most patriotic Englishman will admit that, on the subject of salads, we can learn something from the French.

During the last half-century a great improvement has taken place on this point in this country. Many years ago it was the fashion to dress an English lettuce, resembling in shape an old umbrella, with a mixture of brown sugar, milk, mustard, and even anchovy and Worcester sauce, and then add a few drops of oil, as if it were some dangerous poison, like prussic acid, not to be tampered with lightly. The old-fashioned lettuces were so hard and crisp that it was difficult to chew them without making a noise somewhat similar to walking on a shingly beach. In modern days, however, we have arrived at a stage of civilisation in which, as a rule, we use soft French lettuces instead of the hard gingham-shaped vegetables which somehow or other our grandfathers ate for supper with a whole lobster, seasoned with about half a pint of vinegar, and then slept none the worse for the performance. The first point for consideration, if we wish to have a good salad, is to have the lettuces crisp and dry. Old-fashioned French cookery-books direct that the lettuce should never be washed. The stalks should be cut off, the outside leaves removed and thrown away, and the lettuce itself should then be pulled in pieces with the fingers, and each piece wiped with a clean cloth. This is not always practicable, but the principle remains the same. You can wash the lettuce leaves without bruising them. You can dry them by shaking them up lightly in a large clean cloth, and you can spread them out and let them get _dry_ an hour or two before they are dressed.

Another important point to be borne in mind is that a salad should never be dressed till just before it is wanted to be eaten. If by chance you put by the remains of a dressed salad, it is good for nothing the next morning.

Finally, the oil must be pure olive oil of the best quality, and to ensure this it should bear the name of some well-known firm. A good deal of the oil sold simply as salad oil, bearing no name, is adulterated, sometimes with cotton-seed oil.

SALAD, FRENCH LETTUCE, PLAIN.--Clean one or more French lettuces (throw away all the leaves that are decayed or bruised), place these in a salad-bowl, and, supposing we have sufficient for two persons, dress the salad as follows:--Put a saltspoonful of salt and half a saltspoonful of pepper into a tablespoon. Fill the tablespoon up with oil, stir the pepper and salt up with a fork, and pour it over the lettuce. Now add another tablespoonful of oil, and then toss the lettuce leaves lightly together with a spoon and fork. Allow one tablespoonful of oil to each person.

This salad would suffice for two. Be sure and mix the lettuce and oil well together before you add any vinegar. The reason of this is that if you add the vinegar first it would soak into the lettuce leaves, making one part more acid than another. Having well mixed up the lettuce and oil, add half a tablespoonful of vinegar. Mix it once more, and the salad is dressed.

In France they always add to the lettuce, before it is dressed, two or three finely chopped fresh tarragon leaves. Dried tarragon can be used, but it is not equal to fresh. If you have no tarragon it is a great improvement to use tarragon vinegar instead of ordinary vinegar. Tarragon vinegar is sold by all grocers at sixpence per bottle.

It is also often customary to rub the salad-bowl with a bead of garlic, or rub a piece of crust of bread with garlic, and toss this piece of crust up with the salad after it has been dressed. Garlic should never be chopped up, but only used as stated above.

A good French salad is also always decorated with one or more hard-boiled eggs, cut into quarters, longways. These are placed on the top of the lettuce.

SALAD, ENGLISH, LETTUCE.--The ordinary English salad is made either with French or English lettuces, and is generally dressed as follows:--One or two tablespoonfuls of cream or milk, a teaspoonful of made mustard, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, pepper, and salt. There are many people still living in remote parts of the country who prefer this style of dressing.