  We report spatially resolved, spectrally dispersed N-band observations of the
B[e] star Hen 3-1191 with the MIDI instrument of the Very Large Telescope
Interferometer. The object is resolved with a 40 m baseline and has an
equivalent uniform disc diameter ranging from 24 mas at 8 microns to 36 mas at
13 microns. The MIDI spectrum and visibilities show a curvature which can arise
from a weak silicate feature in which the object appears ~ 15% larger than in
the continuum, but this could result from a change in the object's geometry
within the band.
  We then model Hen's 3-1191 spectral energy distribution (.4-60 microns) and
N-band visibilities. Because of the unknown nature for the object, we use a
wide variety of models for objects with IR excesses. We find the observations
to be consistent with a disc featuring an unusually high mass accretion and a
large central gap almost void of matter, an excretion disc, and a binary made
of two IR sources. We are unable to find a circumstellar shell model consistent
with the data.
  At last, we review the different hypotheses concerning the physical nature of
the star and conclude that it is neither a Be supergiant nor a symbiotic star.
However, we could not discriminate between the scenario of a young stellar
object featuring an unusually strong FU Orionis-like outburst of mass accretion
(4 to 250 x 10^-4 solar mass per year) and that of a protoplanetary nebula with
an equatorial mass excretion rate (>~ 4 x 10^-5 solar mass per year). In both
cases, taking the additional presence of an envelope or wind into account would
result in lower mass flows.
