Cassell's vegetarian cookery : a manual of cheap and wholesome diet / by A.G. Payne.
- Arthur Gay Payne
- Date:
- 1899
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Cassell's vegetarian cookery : a manual of cheap and wholesome diet / by A.G. Payne. Source: Wellcome Collection.
98/208 page 90
![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 vege ^ tarian cookery a frying-])an has not been used in this manner, we should still avoid one in which onions or vegetables, or even black butter 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 butter should be allowed for, say, six eggs ? On this point the greatest authori- ties 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 butter. One of the oldest cookery books we can call to mind is entitled The Ex- perienced English Housekeeper, by Elizabeth Eaffald. The book, which was published in 1775, is dedicated to the Hon. Lady Elizabeth Warburton, whom the authoress formerly served as housekeeper. The recipe is entitled To make an amulet. The book states, Put a quarter of a pound of butter into a frying-pan, break six eggs ; Francatelli also gives four ounces of butter to six eggs. On the other hand, Soyer, the great cook, gives two ounces of butter to six eggs ; so also does the equally great Louis Eustache Tide, cook to Louis XVL We may add that OasselFs Dictionary of Cookery re- commended two ounces of butter to six eggs, whilst Cassell'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, butter than in making another. Francatelli wrote for what may be described as that ^' high class cooking suited for Pall Mall clubs, where no one better than himself knew how best to raise the jaded, appetite of a wealthy epicure. Soyer's book was written for the people. There are two kinds of omelets, one in which the egg is](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b20391675_0100.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
