On January 12th, I attended the 2009 Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Trade Show and Conference at “The Homestead”, a historic resort established in 1766 outside of Roanoke, Virginia. What a beautiful place. It’s nestled in the spectacular Alleghany Mountains. Though the exterior of the resort is still its original, the inside has been brought up to the most modern hospitality standards and is absolutely luxurious.

I was invited by the Virginia Egg Council to give an omelet workshop to the Innkeepers and Bed and Breakfast owners who attended the conference. An omelet workshop is a way of permitting guests to make their own omelets. I ship tabletop burners, ladles, spatulas, etc. to the venue where the event will occur, and the venue supplies the omelet filling ingredients. Though the logistics sound unwieldy, it’s actually quite. I allow one “cooking station” (burner and pan and omelet ingredients) for every 10 guests, so, if there are 100 guests, 10 stations are set up. At the start of every event, I demonstrate the easy 40-second omelet making technique to the group. If each guest actually prepares their omelet in the 40-second to 1-minute time frame, all of the cooking is accomplished in 10 or 15-minutes total. Really! Because I have given the omelet workshop to this group in Virginia in the past, I decided to raise the bar this time. Rather than filling one side of the omelet and folding it, I had them sprinkle their ingredients all over the top of it. They slid the whole omelet out of the pan and onto a warm flour tortilla already waiting on the dinner plate. Then, the tortilla is rolled with the omelet inside and cut in half making a perfect omelet wrap.

It was an experiment. Could a hundred people cook an omelet, fill it, slide it onto a tortilla, roll it and walk away with it in a minute or so’s time? The answer is YES! Well, most took about 90-seconds or slightly longer, but it didn’t matter. Our guests were so pleased to learn this new spin on breakfast that the event was a huge success.

I will forward the recipe for an omelet wrap next week.

Posted by Howard Helmer, American Egg Board