To call it an omelette if it is not folded?

[ragz134]

Facebook argument with MIL... DH has a bit of a thing for omelettes, he even made a Christmas one with bubble and squeak and gravy in it!
Anyway, we don't fold our omelettes, we finish them under the grill and serve whole and flat, if you see what I mean. MIL claims it is only an omelette if folded and otherwise must be a frittata or something else 'foreign'. Others are now joining in on both sides, but was hoping for a greater sample size to settle the argument.

My frittata hasn't got potato in it, sometimes leftover pasta at a push.

Isn't unfolded and grilled a Spanish omelette? That's my preference anyway. Also - not a proper omelette if no leftovers from last night's dinner in it.

Isn't it dry though OP, if you finish it under the grill? I thought an omelette was folded, not browned and the egg should be slightly runny in the middle.

Revenant noooooo no no, tortillas are not baked in the oven.
A tortilla is done on a frying pan then flicked in the air like a pancake or using a spatula.
It is just the Spanish word for omelette.
A tortilla has eggs and then you can have multiple other ingredients in it if you wish.

What? Revival Tortilla thickness reasoning? Eating cold? You can eat cold or warm.
That article has not been written by a Spaniard

Kirsty a Spanish omelette is a think omelette with potatoes and onion (optional)

Hmm Evergreen17 i wrote 'you'd eat it cold' as in 'you could eat it cold' (leaving the suggestion you also could eat it warm or hot), which unlike an omelette which you'd only eat hot - giving the op a way to differentiate a flat omelette and a tortilla to her mil

But I do admire your snobbery of Spanish egg use.

I am definitely putting the cheese on top and turning it over next time. I have never had folded omelettes at home or growing up.

A traditional English omlette is open. A traditional French one is closed.

Dodo not so much snobbery as being correct about a traditional dish from my country. Yes, very serious about my tortillas which I thought was the point of the thread? To be accurate?
Yes tortillas can be eaten hot or cold and they are delicious either way.
Dislike the term snob very much. Very negative

If someone said omelette to me I would think of the French style ones that are folded over and normally most of the filling is folded inside. The open kind with more filling cooked into the egg I would think of as a frittata but equally it could be called something like an open-faced omelette or similar and you would know what it was.

What about the Jain Omelette?

www.manjulaskitchen.com/eggless-omelet-vegan/

It is eggless.

Your MIL is wrong. A frittata has potato in it and an omelette is an omelette whether or not it is folded.

My first job training as a chef was making omelettes.
3 eggs whisked up, smoking hot cast iron pan with a decent amount of oil.
Eggs in pan and mixed a little until almost set, then fillings put in, folded over and heat lowered until filling cooked.
Frittatas I didn't discover until much later. Veg etc fried first, add eggs, pull away almost cooked stuff from side of pan allowing the runnynstuff to take its place. Cheese on top then in the oven or bung a lid on until cooked through. Usually put potatoes in them too.
"n the strictest sense, the difference boils down to a matter of folding in a filling rather than mixing it in. Omelets traditionally have the egg mixture cooked and folded around a filling, while a frittata just mixes it all up, cooked in a mishmash combination all at once. Frittatas are often served at room temperature, making them perfect for brunches or larger groups."

I've only known flat omelettes, except in fancy restaurants where it's served with other things on the same plate - and I just assumed they folded it simply to make more room. A frittata is completely different, having potatoes in it.

I realise I'm not adding anything to the debate here, but I cannot see how folding an omelette makes it a different thing. What happens in that case when you cut a piece off, does it change its name again? Or indeed if you share one omelette between 2 by halving it...?!

Maybe it should be called something else if it's fried in a square pan too.

Possibly your MIL is mixing up pizzas and calzonis??

i would disagree. frittata needs to be finished in oven DUH! omelette similarly NEEDS to be folded.

Even if everyone here agreed with you, I think it’s pretty unlikely that, when you told your mother-in-law that MN backed you up, she’d say, “Oh, gosh, really? Then I must be quite wrong and I apologise unreservedly. Golly, how mortifying! I shall change my ways forthwith. Do thank MN for putting me right.”

So what do you hope to gain?

(As I’m here - it’s an omelette whether you fold it or not.)

@omeletteman @PointsSouth this was a query from over eight years ago. Have you really not been able to work out how internet forums work?

It just popped up. I didn’t check the date.

Having said that, I’m never sure why it matters. To the OP, yes, the content is relevant at the time of posting. But to the rest of us, it makes no practical difference at all.