Omelette: how do you make your(favorite)s?

[huiray]

Y'know, all this stuff about cooking a one-egg French (or Parisian) omelet/omelette or the "make me an (French) omelette" test is relevant ONLY to restaurants serving FRENCH or French-derived or French-inspired cuisine in the traditional style. Jacques Pepin testing people on their (French) omelette skills is truly relevant only to his French restaurants. As sigma said, even new French restaurants don't need the technique, although yes it is a nice one to know. I for one would not consider it a critical test of whether you know how to cook at all. Yes, many (but not all) Western/European-type places do draw upon the French culinary tradition but I suggest that there are other cuisines and traditions around, hmm? I somehow doubt that it is a skill that is of much relevance in a traditional Cantonese restaurant, for example, or any other restaurant serving cuisine that is not derived from French techniques or cuisine. That covers quite a lot of the restaurants in the world.

Are chefs competent to cook in a restaurant that does not serve French omelettes if they don't know how to make a perfect French omelette? Like said Cantonese restaurant, or a New American Cuisine restaurant? I would think that the answer is "yes", as sigma has already explained. By all means teach the people in the kitchen (or other folks) how to make a one-egg French omelette - hello, Jacques P. - if not anything else but to preserve the knowledge of how to do so but to think that this is a test of skill for any chef in any cuisine is not sensible.

You might say that nobody here has said such a thing but OTOH nobody here so far has talked directly about the context of what cuisine or cuisines is/are involved. One poster at least has alluded to this by specifically calling it a "Parisian Omelette" rather than the generic "omelette".

For that matter, would such a skill in making a French/Parisian omelette be something that a chef-candidate would be tested on in those Spanish restaurants in Spain that the OP remembers fondly where she had those Spanish tortillas?

Edited May 29, 2013 by huiray (log)

[rotuts]

I stand corrected.

[Shel_B]

Well, this thread has sure taken a few interesting turns.

Some years ago I was watching a cooking show about preparing eggs. Various omelettes were described, made with, to me, an obscene amount of disparate ingredients. However, burried in the trash was a little treasure: ideas about making omelettes with fruit, and that gave me the idea for a simple, blueberry cream cheese omelette.

So, I take three or four eggs, beat 'em up, and put them into a well buttered omelette pan. As they firm up, I add some blueberries and a few dabs of good, natural cream cheese (Gina Marie's is my favorite). I don't overdo the cheese or the berries. After a bit, I fold the eggs over on themselves, let the omelette warm through just enough to soften the cream cheese, and serve.

A very tasty, simple pleasure. I've made this with both frozen and fresh berries with good results. I don't mix the cheese or the berries into the eggs ... just put 'em lightly on the eggs before folding them over.

Toots enjoys a kind of tortilla de papas. She'll microwave a scrubbed big potato for 4-5 minutes, Then slices it, and in a frying or sauté pan put a tablespoon of olive oil and fry the potato slices, turning them only once. When both side are barely browned, she'll drop two eggs on the side of, or over, the potatoes and that is her dinner. She'll add salt and pepper or ketchup - whatever - and eats it out of the pan, she then has less to wash. Very peasant style. Many of her dishes reflect having spent the first few years of her life on her grandfather's tea plantation in the jungle of Paraguay.

[Jaymes]

So, I take three or four eggs, beat 'em up, and put them into a well buttered omelette pan. As they firm up, I add some blueberries and a few dabs of good, natural cream cheese (Gina Marie's is my favorite). I don't overdo the cheese or the berries. After a bit, I fold the eggs over on themselves, let the omelette warm through just enough to soften the cream cheese, and serve.

This sounds so very, very good. I'm going to try it right away. Thanks!

[Rozin Abbas]

Oh please. I never said that. But it's a nice extrapolation.

What I said was that the striped omelet looks soulless. And I don't care if you serve one of them to me, or 600 of them. I'd send 'em back.

So even if it tastes good, great, or any other positive adjective, it should be sent back because you perceive it as soulless? You don't think that's close minded?

[SobaAddict70]

Y'know, all this stuff about cooking a one-egg French (or Parisian) omelet/omelette or the "make me an (French) omelette" test is relevant ONLY to restaurants serving FRENCH or French-derived or French-inspired cuisine in the traditional style. Jacques Pepin testing people on their (French) omelette skills is truly relevant only to his French restaurants. As sigma said, even new French restaurants don't need the technique, although yes it is a nice one to know. I for one would not consider it a critical test of whether you know how to cook at all. Yes, many (but not all) Western/European-type places do draw upon the French culinary tradition but I suggest that there are other cuisines and traditions around, hmm? I somehow doubt that it is a skill that is of much relevance in a traditional Cantonese restaurant, for example, or any other restaurant serving cuisine that is not derived from French techniques or cuisine. That covers quite a lot of the restaurants in the world.

Are chefs competent to cook in a restaurant that does not serve French omelettes if they don't know how to make a perfect French omelette? Like said Cantonese restaurant, or a New American Cuisine restaurant? I would think that the answer is "yes", as sigma has already explained. By all means teach the people in the kitchen (or other folks) how to make a one-egg French omelette - hello, Jacques P. - if not anything else but to preserve the knowledge of how to do so but to think that this is a test of skill for any chef in any cuisine is not sensible.

You might say that nobody here has said such a thing but OTOH nobody here so far has talked directly about the context of what cuisine or cuisines is/are involved. One poster at least has alluded to this by specifically calling it a "Parisian Omelette" rather than the generic "omelette".

For that matter, would such a skill in making a French/Parisian omelette be something that a chef-candidate would be tested on in those Spanish restaurants in Spain that the OP remembers fondly where she had those Spanish tortillas?

Of course there are other cuisines in the world, but there is a reason why in many culinary institutions, certain techniques that derive from the French culinary tradition are still taught -- knife skills such as brunoise,tournée and batonnet for example, and stock-making for another.

The prospective chef candidate might never use any of that in his future career but it's something that's good to know. They're foundational, in the same way that torts and contracts are basic precepts of law, and thus taught to every first-year student in law school, to borrow another analogy.

That's why to certain people, making an omelette (oh, I'm sorry, a Parisian omelette) or a roast chicken stands as a standard test with respect to execution. If I'm going to be dropping upwards of $100 which is the going price for dinner for two in a restaurant in Manhattan and the folks in the kitchen can't make a simple roast chicken -- it comes out dry and tasteless, with overcooked meat, flabby skin, etc. -- then I don't care if they can ace sous-vide techniques or are crackshots at Thai, Mexican or Japanese food. Poor cooking skills are poor. They had their best shot and they blew it.

[sigma]

Soba, have you ever worked in a professional kitchen?

[SobaAddict70]

No, I haven't.

I'm sorry, but I don't see how THAT is any way relevant to this thread. Also, a fine use of an argument from authority fallacy.

You can disagree with my opinion or even be dismissive, but it is not unreasonable for a customer like me to judge a professional like you (assuming you are one) by your execution.

Edited May 29, 2013 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[sigma]

Well, I'm not a chef, so you don't need to judge me, but IT is relevant to this thread because your opinion seems to rest on the idea that kitchen work is something other than an assembly line. People need to know how to do their jobs. That is all.

[SobaAddict70]

People need to know how to do their jobs and do it them well. That's my point, sorry that it wasn't clear.

Edited May 29, 2013 by SobaAddict70 (log)

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Coming back around to topic.....

I'm consistently amazed how such a basic food as an omelette, with an infinite number of possible variations to it, can create such a polemic! Isn't the "right" way to make something, when you're cooking it for yourself, the way that makes it taste best to you and authenticity be danged if it tastes good? (I'll probably get yelled at for that, but it's a free internet and I have a right to my opinion.) Certainly, if you're pumping something out for restaurant service there's value in technique and uniformity, but insofar as the omelette being the test of a chef that's complete bullpucky in today's market. Skills are skills - as Soba says, what is important is that one knows their job and how to do it well. The omelette is therefore only a test for those who are making omelettes for a living.....

Of course, I'm also speaking from the position of somebody who has never once in her life made or eaten an omelette, eggs prepared in this manner being something I'm violently allergic to (the proteins in the albumin, even for a "country" omelette, are not nearly denatured enough for my body to handle them), but the principle holds and I won't say I'm not very curious about them, both the way they're prepared and the endless variations thereupon. I could easily see us having the same sort of polarized discussion about the relative merits of various crepes or pancakes.

[sigma]

People need to know how to do their jobs and do it them well. That's my point, sorry that it wasn't clear.

Your point was clear, but it goes back to why my question was relevant. People do their jobs, but their jobs are piecemeal and their methods are given. It is very difficult to judge the guy roasting the chicken by the chicken you get. That is all. That is why it was a reasonable question and not an argument from authority, or whatever pedantic garbage you guys throw around in here.

[rotuts]

Like the blueberry cream cheese idea. I don't usually have cream cheese around. but I have 'fresh' goat cheese. Ill try that next time I find some good blueberries. on the tart side I know.

[huiray]

No, I haven't.

I'm sorry, but I don't see how THAT is any way relevant to this thread. Also, a fine use of an argument from authority fallacy.

You can disagree with my opinion or even be dismissive, but it is not unreasonable for a customer like me to judge a professional like you (assuming you are one) by your execution.

People need to know how to do their jobs and do it them well. That's my point, sorry that it wasn't clear.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion.

But as I explained above, I would not expect chefs in a non-French tradition to be expert in FRENCH techniques. If we talk about Manhattan restaurants, which is what you talked about, I would not be concerned if I were eating at Jungsik and found out the chef(s) there didn't know how to make a perfect Parisian omelette. I would be more concerned about whether they know how to properly execute KOREAN food. If I were eating at some place like Kyo Ya or equivalent I wouldn't be too concerned about whether they could make a perfect Parisian omelette. In the latter case how they make a tamagoyaki, instead, might be a better test, whether they normally offer it or not.

A roast chicken might be a not unreasonable idea, I'll allow, as this is a more common theme in non-French cuisines. Still, I wonder if you might turn your nose up at a Cantonese "roast chicken" since it would not be traditionally done in an oven but done by holding a chicken over a wok and repeatedly ladling hot oil from the wok over the chicken back into the wok. I could envision the objection that it is not done the French way. ;-)

Edited May 29, 2013 by huiray (log)

[weinoo]

Oh please. I never said that. But it's a nice extrapolation.

What I said was that the striped omelet looks soulless. And I don't care if you serve one of them to me, or 600 of them. I'd send 'em back.

So even if it tastes good, great, or any other positive adjective, it should be sent back because you perceive it as soulless? You don't think that's close minded?

If I ordered say, a cheese omelet at a restaurant, and that's what was served to me, yes - I'd send it back. I won't know how it tastes - because I've sent it back. And I won't care how it tastes - because I've sent it back. Get it?

[SobaAddict70]

People need to know how to do their jobs and do it them well. That's my point, sorry that it wasn't clear.

Your point was clear, but it goes back to why my question was relevant. People do their jobs, but their jobs are piecemeal and their methods are given. It is very difficult to judge the guy roasting the chicken by the chicken you get. That is all. That is why it was a reasonable question and not an argument from authority, or whatever pedantic garbage you guys throw around in here.

Nevertheless, it is an impression and oftentimes, the sole impression that a kitchen can make. And impressions have consequences ... how many places have gone down because some meals didn't go right?

You (and I'm not using "you" to mean *you* but in the generic sense) hope that every item that's sent out makes for a positive impression, and I can understand the point of view from the back of the house, but consider the person ordering the chicken or the omelette or whatever. Most people won't care. There are some who are knowledgeable, and who may or may not speak up.

That's why there are standards that should get upheld, like whether an omelette has brown spots or not. For most folks reading this thread, that's not a consideration. After all, it's just food, no?

[weinoo]

Skills are skills - as Soba says, what is important is that one knows their job and how to do it well. The omelette is therefore only a test for those who are making omelettes for a living....

That a bit simplistic too. They're a test of mise en place, a test of working under pressure, a test of plating...

It why all those "chefs" failed on Top Chef.

[SobaAddict70]

A roast chicken might be a not unreasonable idea, I'll allow, as this is a more common theme in non-French cuisines. Still, I wonder if you might turn your nose up at a Cantonese "roast chicken" since it would not be traditionally done in an oven but done by holding a chicken over a wok and repeatedly ladling hot oil from the wok over the chicken back into the wok. I could envision the objection that it is not done the French way. ;-)

You assume much, my friend. I'll leave it at that.

[FrogPrincesse]

For those of you who read French... I thought that this little cartoon was pretty cute. Omelette technique, illustrated. As they say, it's all about the technique!

[Rozin Abbas]

If I ordered say, a cheese omelet at a restaurant, and that's what was served to me, yes - I'd send it back. I won't know how it tastes - because I've sent it back. And I won't care how it tastes - because I've sent it back. Get it?

I had assumed you would know that I meant potentially tasty (and assume you're in a "modernist" [for the lack of a better word, I suppose] restaurant). Regardless, I find it slightly funny that you wouldn't at least try it because you have this perconceived notion that it is somehow "soulless."

Edited May 29, 2013 by Rozin Abbas (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

I also took SobaAddict's one-egg Paris omelette challenge. My brother made it disappear in a single bite.

Edited May 29, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

For those of you who read French... I thought that this little cartoon was pretty cute. Omelette technique, illustrated. As they say, it's all about the technique!

Ah, I see now... My omelette skills lack rigour

Edited May 29, 2013 by Plantes Vertes (log)

[weinoo]

I also took SobaAddict's one-egg Paris omelette challenge. My brother made it disappear in a single bite.

Very nice. Soba will be proud.

[weinoo]

I am thinking that the one-egg omelet might be easier than the 2 egg omelet. Less time for any browning to occur (unless, of course, you like browning).

[Plantes Vertes]

I also took SobaAddict's one-egg Paris omelette challenge. My brother made it disappear in a single bite.

Very nice. Soba will be proud.

Of the omelette or the jaws?