Got a minute? Make an egg dish for dinner
Get cracking, like the world’s fastest omelette-maker
Ithink I’m doing well if I can make dinner in half an hour. Howard Helmer turns out 427 of them in that time.
Helmer, a chef from New York City, holds the Guinness World Record for making omelettes: 427 of them in 30 minutes. He also holds the record for making the world’s fastest single omelette: 42 seconds. “And that wasn’t just a plain one,” says Helmer. “It was filled with cheese.”
Helmer not only makes fast omelettes, he also makes a pretty persuasive case that an omelette is an excellent go-to idea for dinner.
“I eat omelettes all the time,” he exclaims. “I think omelettes are the single most versatile dish that anyone can have in their repertoire.”
Helmer says he learned to cook eggs from his Russian grandmother.
“We were a poor immigrant family. Whatever she made for dinner one night, the next day, the leftovers would be used with eggs.”
He often uses the same principle.
“I think a great omelette is to take a piece of leftover pizza, zap it in the microwave, then scrape all the toppings into an omelette.”
Helmer, who was in Ottawa last week demonstrating his easier method for making omelettes, makes you a believer. Photographer Chris Mikula and I both went home and made omelettes after seeing how easy Helmer makes them — and after tasting how good Helmer’s omelettes are.
“My favourite omelette in the world is the omelette wrap,” says Helmer. “You slide the omelette into a flour tortilla and wrap it up. I call this ‘eggs with legs’ because you wrap it and then you can take it with you.”