Omelette au fromage

This fluffy cheese omelet, a classic of French cuisine, is the last thing I expected to write about when I returned from Provence last week. I’d picked up three new recipes, including one for a fabulous garlic spread that is served in the region but largely unavailable elsewhere in France. Well, dear readers, I made it twice — and both times it was a dismal failure. So I consulted my fridge to see what else I could make on short notice…

Omelette au fromage / Cheese omelet

Yes, I had eggs, yes I had a block of cheese, yes I had a little butter and olive oil as well as some fresh basil to scatter over the omelet. Easy peasy. And to my surprise, I found that after posting recipes here for over a decade — there are now more than 500 on the site — I had never shared this absolutely essential French dish. There’s a technique to making it in the French style, and this is explained in the recipe.

Cheese omelets are served across France  both at bistros, generally accompanied by French fries, and at home at lunchtime, suppertime and, more recently, also for brunch (a meal that is catching on over here, although not traditional). The cheese is generally Comté, Gruyère or Emmenthal, which hail from eastern France near the Swiss border. But I’ve experiemented a lot and can testify that this omelet is also delicious with cheddar, gouda with cumin and many other cheeses.

The omelet was a handy solution after my two attempts at crème d’ail resulted in a garlic spread that I wouldn’t serve to my dog, if I had one. No comparison to the version we picked up at the market in Apt, a charming town in Luberon region. After tasting it I wanted to ask the vendor for his recipe but, alas, the market is only on Saturdays and I was leaving on Thursday. Maybe next year.

The second recipe I picked up was for making green olives in the Provençal style. These superb olives are known as picholines. They’re available at farmers markets elsewhere in France but not always easy to find. The recipe came my way when the gregarious landlord of our rental stopped by to clean the pool and we began conversing about his olive trees. It’s a recipe I’d like to try, but unfortunately I don’t have a fruitful olive tree in Paris. (There’s a small one on my veranda, but this year it produced exactly one olive…).

The third recipe is for caponata, a Sicilian take on ratatouile that includes black olives, celery and capers as well as the other ingredients and is served cold, never hot. This deeply flavorful dish was brought to our table by our friend Christian, a superlative cook, and he was kind enough to share the recipe. But I’ll wait untili next summer to post it as I first need to check in with my Sicilian friend Gisella, another fabulous cook.

So there you have it. Even though it’s still officially summer and we’re in a new round of the Olympics here in Paris, there’s a whiff of autumn in the air. Residents who fled the first round are returning in droves, the kids go back to school on Monday and the first bounty of the fall season is appearing at markets. Today I bought girolles, the larger French cousin of chanterelles, and the year’s first plump grapes are also on offer.

Here’s wishing you a gentle rentrée (post-summer return to reality). And… happy cooking!