What is the secret to the perfect omelette?

• Neil Perry's ham omelette recipe

What is the secret to the perfect omelette? T. Clarke

Good eggs, good butter, a good pan, a little salt and pepper and a warm plate. I trust the French on this matter, seeing as it is a French dish.

1. For four people, Larousse's culinary dictionary says to crack eight eggs into a bowl, and season with a teaspoon of salt and a few twists of pepper.
2. Beat with a fork until the mixture is homogenous and do so in a manner that introduces some air into the mix.
3. At this stage, beat in a French tablespoon (15ml) of cream or milk. The water in the extra liquid boils and makes steam when heated, creating tiny bubbles in the mixture, which are trapped as the protein in the egg white sets.
4. Add 25 grams of butter to an immaculately clean, heavy-based pan, and when foaming, pour in the eggs, spreading them evenly around the pan and then stirring the mixture briefly in a figure of eight motion.
5. Let the omelette cook until the base is firm, the sides crisp, and the top still slightly runny. Fold over using a spatula.
6. Butter a warm plate and give a sharp knock to the handle of the pan to release the omelette.
7. Slide the omelette onto the serving plate and glaze with more butter.

How big a ham should I buy for Christmas? P. Janowski

It's best to go a little overboard and not skimp on ham as this is a feast day. With a trimmed, boned ham, allow about 150 grams of ham per person.

If you're ordering ham on the bone, you need to consider the weight of the bone, skin and fat, which most people find unappetising. So calculate about 220 to 250 grams per person, depending on their appetites.

These are minimum figures only, and a lot of families love a big ham on the bone. These will last up to two weeks in the fridge. Meat carved off the leg and wrapped tightly will freeze for six months.

What is processed cheese actually? L. Walker

It's cheese, Jim, but not as we know it. I was bought up on Kraft Processed Cheddar, which came in a deep blue cardboard box in which you'd find a block of pale, elastic cheese wrapped in aluminium foil.

It is made by adding an emulsifier such as sodium citrate to a hard or semi-hard cheese.

This stops the fat from pooling on top of the cheese when it melts and makes it melt consistently. It also stops the cheese from maturing and makes it shelf-stable without refrigeration.

During processing, other flavours and colours may be added to the cheese. Single processed cheese slices are made by extruding soft, warm cheese through a slit-like nozzle onto a plastic film, which is covered by another sheet of film and then heat-sealed.

In the processed cheese world, the word is that a certain French processed cheese that comes in little wedges contains processed comte cheese that has not made the grade to carry the auspicious name.

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