This year, on Food Revolution Day, Jamie launched a competition to find your best twist on his simple cheese omelette recipe. It’s a humble, healthy dish – open to all manner of variations and a great way to showcase a bit of culinary imagination!
This week we announced the winner and runners up, and in honour of this we’re sharing the stories and inspiration behind them. Here, David Sayah from Germany explains how he started cooking, and shares his recipe for a Persian-style ‘herbalised’ omelette (styled and shot above by the Jamie Magazine team).
Read about all the winning omelettes here.
David Sayah’s omelette
“I like to characterise myself a food enthusiast. I love eating, cooking and experimenting with new recipes and flavours. However, it was not always like that. I started to cook on a regular basis after finishing my studies and moving out for my first job in 2009. You may call me a late bloomer! At the very beginning, I had only one cookbook, called Born to Cook, which was a present from my mum. So, my first attempts relied a lot on trial and error. I watched cookery shows on TV and tried to recreate dishes. Jamie’s 15-Minute Meal recipes really helped me to improve my skills.
Eating thoughtfully
For most of my life up to that point, I had tried to avoid preparing raw meat with my hands (with great success). It was quite an effort when I first had to do that, and made me rethink my eating habits. I came across Yotam Ottolenghi’s Plenty and began to explore a whole new world of nutritious and tasty food without meat. Although I am not vegetarian, I enjoy convincing family, friends, and colleagues that vegetarian cuisine can be much more than just dipping raw veggies in mayonnaise.
When I cook at home, I always use fresh ingredients, particularly vegetables from local farmers, and meat from reputable and sustainable sources. We buy most of our groceries at the local food market. It has become a Saturday morning ritual.
Colourful ideas
I get lots of inspiration from social media, like Jamie’s Food Tube network and Instagram. I began posting pictures of food on Instagram in March 2016, which is where I discovered Jamie’s omelette challenge. I wanted to support the Food Revolution campaign and to inspire people with a colourful and flavour-packed omelette.
My omelette
This recipe is my personal interpretation of a traditional Persian dish called ‘kookoo sabzi’. It is a herby, silky, slow-cooked omelette. In Persian cuisine, people are used to having loads of fresh herbs in their everyday diet, either cooked or served raw as a healthy side. Or both!
Mixing different herbs, nuts, and barberries into your omelette creates a real burst of flavour. The little red berries taste like sour cranberries and are an essential ingredient for Persian wedding dishes. Their sourness represents real life, which isn’t always sweet. I hope you enjoy it!”
Follow David on Instagram for more inspiration @godisachef and check out the August edition of Jamie magazine to see all the winning omelettes in all their glory!
