Omelette
Bacon, cheese and onion omelette
Alternative namesOmelet, egg pancake
Place of originAncient Persia[1][2]
Serving temperatureHot
Main ingredientsEggs, butter or oil

An omelette (also spelled omelet) is a dish made from eggs, fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is a common practice for an omelette to include fillings such as chives, vegetables, mushrooms, meat (often ham or bacon), cheese, onions or some combination of the above. Whole eggs or egg whites are often beaten with a small amount of milk, cream, or water.

History

Browned omelette with herbs

The earliest omelettes are believed to have originated in ancient Persia.[1][2]: 65  According to Breakfast: A History, they were "nearly indistinguishable" from the Iranian dish kookoo sabzi.[2]

According to Alan Davidson,[1] the French word omelette (French: [ɔm.lɛt]) came into use during the mid-16th century, but the versions alumelle and alumete are employed by the Ménagier de Paris (II, 4 and II, 5) in 1393.[3] Rabelais (Gargantua and Pantagruel, IV, 9) mentions an homelaicte d'oeufs,[4] Olivier de Serres an amelette, François Pierre La Varenne's Le cuisinier françois (1651) has aumelette, and the modern omelette appears in Cuisine bourgeoise (1784).[5]

Alexandre Dumas discusses several variations of omelette in his Grand dictionnaire de cuisine. One is an omelette with fresh herbs (parsley, chives and tarragon), another is a variation with mushrooms that Dumas says may be adapted using green peas, asparagus, spinach, sorrel or varieties of truffles. The "kirsch omelette " (or rum omelette) is a sweet omelette made with sugar and liquor, either kirsh or rum. The omelette is rolled and sprinkled with powdered sugar. A hot poker is used to burn a design into the omelette and it is served with a sweet sauce made of liquor and apricot jam. Another sweet omelette, attributed to a royal cook of Prussia, is made with apples and brown sugar glaze. Of the Arabian omelette, Dumas writes "I have been concerned in this book to give the recipes of peoples who have no true cuisine. Here, for example, is a recipe the Bey's cook was good enough to give me." The omelette itself is made with an ostrich egg and served with a spicy tomato-pepper sauce.[6]

Variations by country

Omelette, plain
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy657 kJ (157 kcal)
0.7 g
12 g
10.6 g
VitaminsQuantity
%DV
Vitamin A equiv.
19%
172 μg
Thiamine (B1)
8%
0.1 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
31%
0.4 mg
Niacin (B3)
1%
0.1 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)
24%
1.2 mg
Vitamin B6
6%
0.1 mg
Folate (B9)
10%
39 μg
Vitamin B12
46%
1.1 μg
Choline
39%
212 mg
Vitamin D
4%
29 IU
Vitamin E
8%
1.2 mg
Vitamin K
4%
4.5 μg
MineralsQuantity
%DV
Calcium
4%
47 mg
Iron
8%
1.5 mg
Magnesium
2%
10 mg
Phosphorus
13%
162 mg
Potassium
4%
114 mg
Selenium
49%
26.7 μg
Sodium
7%
161 mg
Zinc
8%
0.9 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water75.9 g
Cholesterol356 mg

Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[7] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[8]

China

France

India

Indonesia

Iran

Italy

Japan

Korea

In Korean cuisine, traditional omelettes are known as gyeran-mari (계란말이, "rolled-eggs") which is a type of savory banchan. Gyeran-mari is made with beaten eggs, mixed with finely diced vegetables, meats, and seafood. This side dish is often found in Korean banquet (janchi) meals, as well as Korean fast food (bunsik) restaurants.

Mexico and Central America

While the Spanish terms tortilla (in Spain) and torta (in the Philippines) are applied to an omelette dish, in Mexico & Central America tortilla is a term for a flatbread made of wheat or corn, while torta is used for a type of sandwich. An omelette in Mexico (& Central America) is sometimes termed as tortilla de huevos, still, the term omelette is widely used.[citation needed]

Philippines

In the Philippines, omelettes are known as torta, usually encountered with the enclitic -ng ("tortang") indicating it modifies the next word (the main ingredient); e.g. tortang hipon = torta ("omelette") + -ng and hipon ("shrimp"), meaning "shrimp omelette". There are many types of torta which are named based on their main ingredients. They include:

Pontic Greeks

Spain

Thailand

United Kingdom

An omelette Arnold Bennett incorporates smoked haddock, hard cheese (typically Cheddar), and cream.[30] It was created by the chef Jean Baptiste Virlogeux at the Savoy Grill in London for the writer Arnold Bennett, who was a frequent customer.[30][31] Cooks including Marcus Wareing to Delia Smith and Gordon Ramsay have published recipes for it.[32]

United States

Gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Davidson, Alan (August 21, 2014). The Oxford Companion to Food. OUP Oxford. p. 571. ISBN 9780191040726. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Anderson, Heather Arndt (July 11, 2013). Breakfast: A History. AltaMira Press. p. 65. ISBN 9780759121652. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  3. ^ ""Omelette"". Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved April 9, 2009.
  4. ^ "En pareille alliance, l'un appeloit une sienne, mon homelaicte. Elle le nommoit mon oeuf, et estoient alliés comme une homelaicte d'oeufs".
  5. ^ Three noted by Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat, (Anthea Bell, tr.) A History of Food, revised ed, 2009, p. 326; de Serres note "Le glossaire accadien" Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Alexandre Dumas' Dictionary of Cuisine, 1873
  7. ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". Retrieved 2024-03-28.
  8. ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154.
  9. ^ "Egg Foo Young (Chinese Omelette)". Retrieved May 19, 2024.((cite web)): CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  10. ^ a b c Ginette Mathiot (éd), La Cuisine pour tous, 1955, p.107 : "(...) laissez cuire à feu vif. L'omelette doit être dorée à l'extérieur, baveuse au centre."
  11. ^ a b c Terese Allen (1991). The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook. The Guest Cottage, Inc. pp. 79–. ISBN 978-0-942495-11-9. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2019.
  12. ^ "How to Perfect the French Omelet (Hint: There Will Be Butter)". Bon Appétit. March 27, 2017. Archived from the original on June 27, 2019. Retrieved June 27, 2019.
  13. ^ Julia Child, Bertholle, L., Beck, S., Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Vol. I), page 135, Knopf, 1961
  14. ^ Cloake, Felicity (June 4, 2019). "Bon appétit! How I rediscovered the joys of French cuisine". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d Wolfert, Paula (2009). Mediterranean clay pot cooking: traditional and modern recipes to savor and share. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 280–281. ISBN 978-0-7645-7633-1. OCLC 298538015.
  16. ^ Schrambling, Regina (2007-07-11). "Ratatouille? Mais non! (pt. 1)". The Los Angeles Times. p. 52. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  17. ^ Schrambling, Regina (11 July 2007). "Edible ticket to Provence. Crespeou Ratatouille part 2". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-01-23.
  18. ^ King, Niloufer Ichaporia (June 18, 2007). My Bombay Kitchen: Traditional and Modern Parsi Home Cooking. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520933378. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  19. ^ "آشنایی با روش تهیه نرگسی؛ غذای رژیمی". Hamshahri newspaper. 12 December 2011. Archived from the original on September 30, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  20. ^ "SPINACH OMELETTE". Archived from the original on September 22, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2013.
  21. ^ Itoh, Makiko (September 14, 2019). "Tenshinhan: A made-in-Japan omelette with Chinese influences". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  22. ^ "CRISPY TORTANG ALAMANG OR HIPON RECIPE". October 4, 2021. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  23. ^ "Small Shrimps Fritters (Tortang Alamang)". March 19, 2019.
  24. ^ "Tortang Dulong Recipe". Panlasang Pinoy. 18 August 2010. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  25. ^ "15 Filipino Foods I Bet You Haven't Tried in the Philippines!". BecomingFilipino. 4 March 2015. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020. Retrieved June 9, 2020.
  26. ^ Merano, Manjo (14 June 2010). "Tortang Giniling Recipe". Pansalang Pinoy. Archived from the original on February 14, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  27. ^ "Tortang Sardinas ( Sardines Omelette)". Pinoy Cooking Recipes. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  28. ^ Thomai Kiziridou (2007). Pontian Delicacies (in Greek). Kyriakidis. p. 380. ISBN 978-960-343-648-5.
  29. ^ "Kai Yat Sai Talay (Thai Omelette With Seafood) Recipe". Food.com. March 4, 2008. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  30. ^ a b Ayto, John. "Arnold Bennett", The Diner's Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2020 (subscription required) Archived 3 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine
  31. ^ Rhodes, Gary. "Omelette Arnold Bennett" Archived 3 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, New British Classics. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  32. ^ "Marcus Wareing's omelette Arnold Bennett" Archived 3 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Delicious; "Easy Omelette Arnold Bennett" Archived 9 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Delia Online; and "Savoy Grill Arnold Bennett Omelette Recipe" Archived 4 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  33. ^ Ayto, J. (2012). The Diner's Dictionary: Word Origins of Food and Drink. Oxford Quick reference collection. OUP Oxford. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-19-964024-9. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  34. ^ of, S.T.; Oseland, J. (2014). Saveur: The New Classics Cookbook: More Than 1,000 of the World's Best Recipes for Today's Kitchen. Weldon Owen. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-61628-735-1. Archived from the original on February 6, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  35. ^ "Denver Omelette Scrambler". Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  36. ^ Brewer, S.; Siple, M. (2011). Low-Cholesterol Cookbook For Dummies. Wiley. p. pt94. ISBN 978-1-119-99679-8. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021. Retrieved October 6, 2019.