Since 1985, on the first weekend of November in the city of Abbeville (Louisiana, USA), residents have celebrated Giant Omelet Day (Giant Omelette Celebration).
But in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, festival events have been canceled.
They say that he himself was a passionate admirer of the omelet. According to legend, once Napoleon and his comrades stopped for the night in the town of Bessières, where he was treated to a local delicacy called “chicken gift”.
Having tasted the “gift”, Vladyka was overjoyed and ordered to instantly collect all the chicken eggs available in the vicinity and prepare a giant omelet from them for the entire army. In memory of this event, the Omelet Festival is held in Bessieres to this day.
According to culinary experts, omelet is an outstanding appetizer: 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 omelet “a wonderful gift from God.”
According to legend, the heavens pampered Franz Joseph with a “gift” when he was twenty years old – until that moment he had never heard of any omelet, since the latter was considered the food of commoners, not intended for the imperial meal.
Once, Vladyka, having gone for a walk, was horrified to find that he had strayed from his retinue and got lost in a deep forest. Making his way through the jungle, he finally saw a light and soon made his way to a tiny peasant hut, where he was greeted with all the cordiality. The hostess hastily built a festive omelet for Franz Joseph: she mixed milk, eggs, flour and sugar, poured the mixture into a frying pan, fried it lightly, and then with a sharp knife quickly cut all this splendor into thin strips, browned them, sprinkled with powdered sugar and served to the Kaiser together with plum compote.
Franz Joseph’s passion for how he liked the delicious dish, and when he returned home, he ordered the court chefs to prepare him a “peasant snack” every day. Since then, the sweet omelet has been called “Kaiserschmarren” – in translation from the German “Kaiser strip”.
Experts assure that a real omelet should be oh-oh-very large, and it is better to feast on it in a friendly company.
This recommendation is sacredly followed by culinary experts from the American state of Louisiana, who annually prepare a huge Friendship omelet of 5000 eggs, 6 liters of butter, 25 liters of milk and 10 kilograms of greens and treat them to guests.