Puffy Omelette at La Mere Poulard

[FoodMan]

A friend of mine claims that one of his worst meals ever was the “Puffy Omelette” at Mont St. Michel, which he said was nothing but foam!! I asked what exactly was it, just a flavorless soufflé? So he tried to do a search to get a picture or a recipe and came out with nothing. Can anyone here shed some light on this?

Thanks

Elie

[jackal10]

A souffle omlette?

Make it like an ordinary omlette, but seperate the eggs and beat the whites stiff befre folding into the yolks.

Often sweet, served with a jam filling. Can be delicious

[Sandra Levine]

I assume we're talking about La Mere Poulard?

At the time that I ate this, many, many years ago, the omelettes were made by separating the yolks and whites, beating the whites until stiff and folding them into the yolks. The eggs were then cooked in a fireplace using a very long-handled black pan. They were rather souffle-like, but nothing to complain about.

Mont St. Michel was overrun with tourists then and must be even worse now. I'm sure that there has been, over the years, a negative effect on the restaurant.

Edited March 2, 2004 by Sandra Levine (log)

[John Whiting]

The Poulard recipe is here.

Edited March 3, 2004 by John Whiting (log)

[marcus]

I assume we're talking about La Mere Poulard?

Every restaurant in Mt St Michel serves puffy omelettes, and some of these are atrocious mass tourist dives. Mere Poulard is a respectable and expensive restaurant, but she is long dead and the restaurant lost its Michelin star at least 10 years ago, and probably deserved to loose it long before. However, I don't believe that the omelette served even today at Mere Poulard, would qualify in the worst meal category.

[pete ganz]

And the omelette is something like $40 US! When I was researching restaurants on Mont St. Michel, everything I read about La Mere Poulard pointed to tourist trap (as others here have said).

[Jonathan Day]

Elizabeth David tells the story of Annette Poulard, proprietor of the Hôtel Poulard who made these omelettes famous. She died in 1931. Her name is apropos, since une poularde is a young, fattened hen -- an English equivalent would be something like Annette Henny.

La Mère Poulard's omelettes were so renowned that M. Robert Viel, a Paris restaurateur and collector of cookery books, petitioned her for the secret recipe. She replied:

Monsieur Viel,

Voici la recette de l'omelette: je casse de bons oeufs dans une terrine, je les bats bien, je mets un bon morceau de beurre dans la poêle, j'y jette les oeufs et je remue constamment. Je suis hereuse, monsieur, si cette recette vous fait plaisir.

ANNETTE POULARD

Roughly translated:

Dear Mr Viel,

Here's the recipe for the omelette: I break some good eggs into a bowl, I beat them well, I put a good lump of butter into my fryingpan, I throw in the eggs and I shake it without stopping. I'll be very happy, sir, if this recipe pleases you.

I've heard nothing but bad reports about the restaurant today. But, even with the hordes of tourists, le mont St Michel is still magic and well worth a visit.

[pete ganz]

I've heard nothing but bad reports about the restaurant today. But, even with the hordes of tourists, le mont St Michel is still magic and well worth a visit.

No doubt...it was amazing. And you're probably better off ordering some pre-sale lamb from a local restaurant than that overpiced omelette.

Edited March 2, 2004 by pete ganz (log)

[admajoremgloriam]

From what I have heard, Michel Bruneau, former Michelin two stars in Caen with La Bourride, has been in charge of La Mère Poulard since November 2003, so the cuisine might be interesting to taste again.

[John Whiting]

. . . even with the hordes of tourists, le mont St Michel is still magic and well worth a visit.

If you eat before or after normal lunch time and go around the church at around one o'clock, you've a fair chance of enjoying both meal and stroll in relative privacy.

[Pouncy]

When I went, the place was so packed I didn't try to get anything to eat - stuck with the bottle of Orange Fanta and Pocky sticks in my backpack. Next time I plan on going in fall/winter, not the height of summer and during the World Cup.

[Jonathan Day]

If you eat before or after normal lunch time and go around the church at around one o'clock, you've a fair chance of enjoying both meal and stroll in relative privacy.

In years past, the local authorities have arranged evening visits to the church after closing time, I think on summer nights when there was sunlight into the late hours. You had to book these weeks in advance, but they offered a chance to experience the place in a completely different way. I last did this in 1991 and have no idea whether it it still offered...the local websites give no indication that this is the case. But well worth going for, if you get a chance.

[Marco_Polo]

Mmmnnn, difficult one this, for the famous omelette a la Mere Poularde has been around for so long that it has become one of France's great culinary clichés. To me, as you jostle with the crowds and climb up the cobbled path of the Mont, the rhythmical syncopation of eggs being beaten in copper pans that greets you is all part of the experience of being there. And make no mistake: crowds or no crowds, Mont-St-Michel is definitely worth visiting.

Of course, the omelette was never intended to be a food experience in its own right, rather simply one course among many in a typical Norman meal that might start with a bowl of moules à la crème, continue with the omelette, then a plate of roasted pré-salé lamb, followed by the chariot des fromages de Normandie, and finally a rich and creamy dessert. I don't know what the restaurant is serving now, but that is the sort of sound cuisine du terroir that they used to have on offer (no wonder you need a trou Normande midday way through the meal).

I can well understand that coming all that way to eat the omelette on its own could be disappointing, as it really is much ado about essentially nothing: light, airy, incredibly fluffy but with no substantial flavours or depth and not even sufficiently filling to assuage the hunger you gain from the walk. Yet there we are: it is what it is and is probably best enjoyed as a sweet dessert soufflé rather than a savoury course (you can sample it both ways).

Culinary clichés: we all want to experience the quintessential foods that have become iconic and legendary, yet so often they disappoint not because of what they are but because of the hype that has been built about and around them.

MP

[Busboy]

We rolled into Mt. Saint Michel about 4 PM and joined the thinning crowds to watch the sunset. After, we dined in our hotel, the Auberge St. Pierre, where my father was served an "omlette" that resembeled nothing so much as a bowl of whipped eggwhites that had been browned under the salamander for a moment or two. Despite fear of looking like an ignorant American tourist, we (that is, I, by virtue of my limited Frech) sent it back twice, until the inside hade been cooked beyond the "stiff peaks" range.

After dinner, my parents went to sleep and my wife and I carried a bottle of wine through the deserted streets, taking a pivate tour of the island, drinking wine and inhaling the salt breeze among the turrets and buttresses and stars. The wind came up, but the night stayed clear and brisk, and we could see boats plying surrounding waters and the lights of the hotels and auberges ashore.

In the morning, I rose with the sun (and the delivery carts) to shoot the sunrise with mom and dad, and wander through the salt flats to see if there really was quicksand there. The pictures were pedestrian, but dawn on the Island was as sublime as night had been, and in the rock outcroppings and the outbuildings were ready to be climbed on, with the excuse that I was "going for the shot."

After breakfast, we rented headphones for a leisurely tour of the church -- no lines, no crowd, just history -- and then packed up. We were heading back to Caen (to la Bourride, in fact) by the time the first wave of tour busses came through, dodging lambs and wondering what the men who appeared to be knocking the dew off the salt grass were doing.

A great place. Don't eat the omlettes.

Edited March 3, 2004 by Busboy (log)

[Bux]

There are many sites that have insufficient accommodations to handle all the tourists that arrive in season. Mont St, Michel, for example is not lacking in hotel rooms, but they don't nearly match the number of day trippers who arrive each day. An overnight in these places often affords an opportunity of some evening or morning hours in which to appreciate the site and turn what might have been a tourist trap memory into one of gentle appreciation.

[Lesley C]

I had an omelette souffle there in January 1994, and remember it being rather nice.

[FoodMan]

where my father was served an "omlette" that resembeled nothing so much as a bowl of whipped eggwhites that had been browned under the salamander for a moment or two

Thanks everyone for the reply, my friend did have it at La mere Poulard and that is exactly how he described it . Then again he admits he is not an egg lover so there was no way he would enjoy this concoction. The only reason he wanted to try it was because he had read so much about it being part of the experience of this wonderful place.

Elie

[menton1]

There are many sites that have insufficient accommodations to handle all the tourists that arrive in season. Mont St, Michel, for example is not lacking in hotel rooms, but they don't nearly match the number of day trippers who arrive each day. An overnight in these places often affords an opportunity of some evening or morning hours in which to appreciate the site and turn what might have been a tourist trap memory into one of gentle appreciation.

Yes, and particularly at le Mont. Standing on the ramparts after dinner, totally dark and quiet, watching the tides and listening to the ocean is a fabulous experience. The tides here are reputed to be among the fastest moving of anywhere in the world. And then strolling the car-free streets enjoying the medieval architecture is quite lovely. One is whisked back 1000 years in time. A great place after the tourists leave!

A similar quiet sets in, in a different way, after the day trippers are gone in San Gimignano, Italy. Another place where you must stay overnight to get the real feel of the place.

Edited March 6, 2004 by menton1 (log)