This is the ultimate one-egg omelet that I made for my wife, Gloria, who loved chicken eggs as well as fish eggs—any fish eggs, from caviar to salmon caviar to hackleback caviar. This very elegant omelet is stuffed with salmon caviar and covered with a thin layer of pressed caviar. The pressed caviar, payusnaya in Russian, is a soft, concentrated paste made with sturgeon eggs that can be easily spread into a very thin layer.

Caviar Omelet

Category

Category name

Serves

1

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons pressed caviar or payusnaya
  • 1 large egg
  • Pinch salt
  • Pinch freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons salmon or trout caviar

Method

  1. Form the pressed caviar into a small sausage shape; then press it to flatten it into a rectangle. Using the back of a spoon, spread the pressed caviar into a rectangle no more than ⅛ inch thick and about 5 to 6 inches long by 2 ½ inches wide.
  2. Crack the egg into a medium bowl. Using a fork, pierce the yolk and whip, moving back and forth across the bowl to break up the white until very smooth and well combined.
  3. Melt the butter in a small (6-inch) nonstick skillet over medium heat. Once foaming, pour the egg mixture into the center of the pan. Hold the fork flat and stir the mixture as quickly as you can in the pan, bringing the curds from the outside into the center, evenly incorporating from the edges, while continuously shaking the pan with the other hand. Continue shaking and stirring without stopping so the mixture coagulates uniformly. Lift the handle end to incline the pan forward so most of the mixture gathers at the opposite side of the pan as the egg sets. Now, stop stirring while the egg is still moist in the center.
  4. Using your fork, bring the near lip over, gently rolling it toward the center of the omelet, pressing the fold into place. Run the fork between the edge of the pan and the far lip of the omelet to loosen it. Using the palm of your hand, tap the handle of the pan to shake the omelet and make it lift onto itself as the far lip rises from the edge of the pan. Arrange the salmon caviar in the center, between the lips, and invert onto a plate. Press the fold with the flat of the fork and shape the omelet to come to a point at each end.
  5. While holding the serving plate in your left hand, bang the end of the pan gently so the omelet moves to the edge of the pan; then invert the omelet onto a plate. The small omelet should be moist, creamy and still a little wet in the center. Run a knife under the layer of pressed caviar and set it on the omelet. Gently press it over the omelet so it covers the top and sides. Serve immediately.