The dangerous temptations of literature

~ ireadthatinabook

I was in the mood for some classical crime and as I had none unread I went for a reread of Dorothy Sayers’ Strong Poison. The mystery was of course still good, I find that Sayers’ novels work well also on a reread, but what struck me particularly this time was the sweet omelette eaten in one of the scenes. A sweet omelette with jam, is that really a thing? All the omelettes I have had up to now have been salt and savoury.

This called for an experiment. Unfortunately the description in the book was not really a enough for a recipe, so I picked the easiest one I could find online instead. In it 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 table spoon of flour was beaten together in a cup, fried in butter and served directly with berries or jam. Definitely tasty!

I am sure the more advanced recipes I found would have made it even better, but it was good enough to convince me that sweet omelettes are a thing, and that they make for a very nice snack. Thank you Dorothy Sayers!

Earlier temptations: Maple syrup candy

Published by ireadthatinabook

15 thoughts on “The dangerous temptations of literature”

  2. Way to go, bringing the reading to life! I just reread Strong Poison last October so I remember that odd omelette too. I imagine it would be something like a very eggy custard dessert.

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  3. I don’t know if French toast is only a UK thing but the recipe you used is very like what was a staple of my student days, what my family called ‘eggy bread’.

    With white bread substituted for the flour in your recipe, a couple of eggs would be beaten up with a dash of milk, into which slices of bread would be dipped and, after frying both sides in butter, smeared with jam, golden syrup or even a sprinkle of sugar; the process would be repeated as necessary.

    In all my sojourns with a French family I don’t recall ever being served this — for all I know they may call it English toast…

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    1. We have something similar to French toast, fattiga riddare, literally”poor knights”. This one ended up closer to a pancake though, and I think if I had made one of the more advanced types I might have gotten some sort of flattish sponge cake.

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      1. I looked up fattiga riddare, and it led me via Wikipedia back to French toast (suppedly invented by some 18th-century guy called French) and on to a Roman recipe. It’s also called poor knights in English but that’s a new one on me! Pancakes are a respectable alternative however…

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  4. Yes, eggy bread I wonder why we call it French toast? The omelette you describe sounds like a pancake which we would eat with lemon and sugar or jam or berries or something else sweet- more like a French crepe. I love food in books, such a great way of travelling in time and geographically. I’ve still only read one Sayers this could be the next!

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    2. It tasted very similar to pancakes (we have them too), only with a bit more egg taste. It was nice though that it made it possible to easily make just one pancake.

      The mystery is good in this one, although Wimsey is more annoying than usual. Apart from Gaudy night, which I remember you were a bit sceptical of, I probably like Murder must advertise best. Not that it really matters which order you read them in.

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      1. Wimsey is more annoying! Now that I know he’s annoying it won’t bother me so much with future reads, he was just a bit of a surprise in Gaudy Night!

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  5. We eat sweet omelettes in my family: beat the whites separately until fluffy, add yolks and flour, and fry on a bit of oil – and put your favorite jam on top once ready! Yum 😀

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