Days of the giant omelette in the USA (05/11)

Since 1985, on the first weekend of November in Abbeville (Louisiana, USA), residents have celebrated the Giant Omelette Celebration.

Napoleon Bonaparte himself is said to have been a passionate admirer of the omelette. According to legend, Napoleon and his comrades once stopped for the night in the town of Bessieres, where he was treated to a local delicacy called «kurochka’s gift».

Having tried «dar», the bishop was incredibly delighted and ordered to instantly collect all the chicken eggs available in the surrounding area and prepare a giant omelette from them for the entire army. In memory of this event, an Omelette Festival is still held in Bessieres to this day.

According to culinary experts, the omelette — snack is outstanding: after all, this dish was respected not only by Napoleon, but also by other powerful rulers. Take, for example, the Austrian Kaiser Franz Joseph, who called the omelette « a wonderful gift from the Lord».

According to legend, «with the gift» the heavens pampered Franz Joseph, when he was twenty years old from the — family until that moment he had never heard of any omelette, since the latter was considered the food of commoners, not at all intended for the imperial meal.

One day, the emperor, going for a walk, was horrified to discover that he had fought off his retinue and got lost in a deep forest. Making his way through the wilds, he finally saw the light and soon got out to the tiny peasant hut, where he was greeted with all cordiality. The owner quickly built a festive omelette for Franz Joseph: she mixed milk, eggs, flour and sugar, poured the mixture into a frying pan, fried it lightly, and then quickly cut all this splendor into thin strips with a sharp knife, browned them, sprinkled them with powdered sugar and served to the Kaiser along with plum compote.

Franz Joseph was so passionate about the delicious dish, and upon returning home, he ordered the court chefs to prepare him a «peasant snack» every day. Since then, the sweet omelette has been called «kaiserschmarren» — translated from German « strips of Kaiser».

Experts assure that a real omelette should be o-o-very large, and it is better to enjoy it in a friendly company.

This recommendation is sacredly followed by culinary specialists from the American state of Louisiana, who annually prepare a huge Friendship omelette from 5,000 eggs, 6 liters of butter, 25 liters of milk and 10 kilograms of herbs and treat guests to it. And all this is accompanied by music, dancing and other entertainment events.

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