I love reading about food and one of my all-time favourite food
writers is Elizabeth David, who died in 1992. Perhaps her best
known work is 'An omelette and a glass of wine', which I can
thoroughly recommend as a good read - various chapters in varying lengths, all devoted to some aspect of food.
My favourite chapter is the one from which the book takes its title -
An Omelette and a glass of wine. In it there is an amusing story, which says such a lot about pretentiousness where food is concerned, and is just as true today.
There was once a restaurant just off the coast of Normandy called
Tete d'Or and its whole reputation rested upon one dish, which was
served every day - omelette, ham, fried sole, lamb cutlets, potatoes, roast chicken and salad. What an enormous meal it sounds.
But the fame of the dish rested on one thing and one thing only - the lightness and beauty of Madame Poulard's omelettes. Her reputation was such that people flocked to Mont St Michel just to experience them and a whole list of possible reasons why they were
so good grew round them. Some said she mixed water with the eggs, Some said she had a special pan. Some thought she added cream to the eggs and some even said that she had a special breed of hen unknown anywhere else.
Finally, after Madame Poulard retired someone plucked up the courage to write and ask her. Here is her reply:
Monsieur Viel,
I break good eggs into a bowl and beat them well. Then I put a knob of butter into a pan, throw in the eggs, shaking the pan constantly. I am happy if this recipe pleases you.
It couldn't be much simpler than that, could it? Try it sometime!
Monday 25 February 2013
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9 comments:
Priceless! It makes you wonder why anyone makes omelettes using any other method.
My mother read cookery books in preference to novels.
Great story - I love it when pretentious foodie people come to realize that food is just food, the world around.
I don't know if it's the same place, but my wife and I have dined at La Mere Poulard on Mont St. Michel. It is claimed that this is where Madam Poulard created her famous omelets. Quite a lovely place with a wonderful collection of old copper pots and pans.
I'll bet her eggs were fresh and not store-bought. i have 6 hens, and eggs laid yesterday are so much better than eggs from a store. Those are usuall at least 7-10 days old. At this point, I can't imagine going back to store-bought. i'll have hens forever!
Crafty Green Boyfriend makes wonderful omelettes, I'll have to share that with him!
I also read cookbooks like novels. My collection is over 2000 books, including all published works by E. David. I think if I had to choose one cookbook out of mine, I would choose her "French Provincial Cooking", first published in 1960. She changed the way we cook. I used to enjoy the book descriptions in a particular cookbooks catalogue. When I mentioned this to the owner, he said that he had to keep the descriptions accurate "because Elizabeth David reads them".
I have an elderly, much-stained boxed set of Elizabeth David books. They made mouth-watering reading in the days when it wasn't easy to find even garlic in local supermarkets!
George - I am sure it is the same place - lucky you to go there.
Stuart - I have been looking for her book on French cooking for years in s/h book shops.
Rachel - lucky you!
Thanks for visiting.
That's the simplest omelette recipe I've ever heard of. I look forward to testing it.
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