Recipe #122: Orange Omelette for Harlots and Ruffians
from “Le ‘Registre de Cuisine’ de Jean de Bockenheim”, originally published in “Le Moyen Age à table” by Bruno Laurioux, Paris, Adam Biro, 1989.
Sic fac fritatem de pomeranciis
Recipe ova percussa, cum pomeranciis ad libitum tuum, et extrahe inde sucum, et mitte ad illa ova cum zucaro; post recipe oleum olive, bel segimine, et faac califieri in patella, et mitte illa ova intus. Et erit pro ruffianis et leccatricibus.
Translation:
How to make an orange omelette. Take eggs and break them, with oranges, as many as you like; squeeze their juice and add to it the eggs with sugar; then take olive oil or fat, and heat it in the pan and add the eggs. This was for ruffians and brazen harlots.
Ingredients (for this attempt):
2 medium chicken eggs
3 tablespoons of 100% orange juice.
1 teaspoon of organic, unbleached sugar
small pinch of salt.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Method:
Add the oil to a pan and bring up to medium-high heat.
Crack the two eggs into a cup and add the orange juice, sugar and salt. Wisk well.
Pour the egg mixture into the hot oil and cook until the bottom sets. Flip to cook the top side. Remove from the heat once both sides have started to brown.
Explanation:
While this is called an omelet in the translations, the original source calls it a fritatem, which translates to frittata. What is the difference? In modern terms, frittatas have stuff mixed in with the egg mixture and left to cook or bake in the pan; no flipping or rolling. Omelets are a thin layer of eggs with stuff placed on top, and then the eggs are folded or rolled over the stuff. Frittatas are generally cooked longer at a lower temperature so that the stuff is cooked without overcooking the eggs. I went with a half and half method. Using only two eggs, I knew that I wasn't going to have enough structure to side out of the pan in one, frittata shaped piece.
Also, Italian omelets, according to recipes starting in the late 19th Century, are cooked in a hotter pan than French style omelets, and the Italian style uses more fat in the pan. The French style uses enough fat to keep the eggs from sticking and the Italian style almost has enough fat to fry the eggs.
The orange juice that was available in the 15th Century would have been sour, as sweet oranges hadn't been cultivated by the time this cookbook was written. For simplicity's sake, I picked up a pint of 100% orange juice with nothing added to the bottle. While my juice was sweet, it wasn't very sweet, so I decided to add some additional sugar. I used some organic, pure cane sugar that still has a little bit of color to it. I think that this sugar would be as good as the best sugar our medieval cooks would have had access to, without being 100% pure sucrose and bleached of all color. The sugar that I used tastes like sugar, identical to the pure sugar that comes in the little packets next to the coffee at work. Just like the crystal sugar that I used in the past. Using the organic sugar ensured that no bleaching agents were used to make the sugar completely white, as well as no anti-clumping agents added. It was what I had readily available in my kitchen.
I added a small pinch of salt, even though it wasn't mentioned, because eggs need salt.
Once the oil was shimmering, I added the egg mixture and let the bottom set. Unfortunately, it did not set enough to allow me to flip it in one piece: My frittata was turning into a poorly made omelet. Once both sides had started to brown, I turned the heat off of the stove and let the thing set for another 30 seconds before moving to a plate.
Still hot, the whatever you wish to call it was nice. The oil let the eggs cook fluffy and airy, so it was really light on the tongue. There wasn't much of an orange flavor and it was sweet. Not sweet enough to be called a dessert. Quite nice.
I cleaned out the pan and attempted recipe #2.
Ingredients (attempt 2):
2 medium chicken eggs
5 tablespoons of 100% orange juice.
1 tablespoon of organic, unbleached sugar
small pinch of salt.
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
Method:
I followed the same procedure as before, with less than satisfactory results.
The added juice and sugar kept the eggs from setting fully. There were eggy curds, but it just didn't set like an omelet should.
It also didn't brown in the same way. The egg mixture set after 4 or 5 minutes of high heat, but it was more like basted scrambled eggs than a frittata or an omelet.
They were good. Very sweet with an orange flavor, and the texture was still light and airy, but there was a bit of oily orange juice left on the plate when I was done eating.
I think that for my third attempt I will increase the amount of orange juice but keep the added sugar to 1 teaspoon. Or I might go to the store and get an orange, juice it myself, and add in the zest. Zest wasn't mentioned but there is no reason why it can't be added if it is fine enough. It might compromise the texture of the eggs, but I'll have to try it.
The next phase would be to figure out why this was recommended for harlots and ruffians, or pimps and prostitutes and this recipe is sometimes translated as. There is no meat in this dish and the sugar would have been a luxury. I have a couple of theories that I need to track down. I think that this would make an excellent entry to the Kingdom A&S Champions coopetition.
Basic Bibliography:
REDON, Odile; SABBAN, Françoise; SERVENTI, Silvano and English translation by SCHNEIDER, Edward. The Medieval Kitchen: Recipes from France and Italy
The Thorngrove Table: https://thorngrove.wordpress.com/2005/11/14/foody_saturday_/
