This is the way an omelette should be made. It is important that the frying pan should be proportionate to the number of eggs; in other words, to the size of the omelet. The frying pan must be made of iron, not of aluminum, tin or enamel. And here I feel I must stress a point essential to what might be called the background omelet-making, namely that the frying pan must be never washed with water but rubbed, when hot, with salt and tissue-paper, as this is the only way to prevent sticking. From three portions, we take six eggs, break them into a bowl, season them with salt and freshly ground pepper, and add a good teaspoonful of water. We beat this lightly with a fork or the wire-broom, not the whisk, until large bubbles from on the top. This takes half a minute; it is fatal to beat too long. Meanwhile, our frying-pan is getting hot not too hot, and we drop in an once and a half of butter, or butter and best lard, over a quick flame for a minute or two, until it gives no froth and has turned light golden. We give our egg-mixture another stir and pour it into the pan, letting it spread evenly over the frying pan. All this is a swift business, and we may well fell a few extra heartbeats and a little breathlessness at that moment. The flame is now turned down a little. With a fork or palette knife (a fork seems to work particularly well) we loosen the edges of the omelet all around and, once or twice, in the middle, letting the liquid flow into the empty spaces, taking care always to move towards the middle. This takes about two minutes. Then, keeping as calm as we possibly cann, we fold it. This is easy if we fold over and pin down with two or three fork-pricks about an inch and a-half of the omelet along one side. The, it is quite easy to roll it into shape. Our omelet should be golden brown outside and wet inside: baveuse, as the classical French term says. It is then slid on to a hot plate and it’s shiny with a little butter. This last touch makes all the difference. What is the only way to prevent sticking?

           This is the way an omelette should be made. It is important that the frying pan should be proportionate to the number of eggs; in other words, to the size of the omelet. The frying pan must be made of iron, not of aluminum, tin or enamel. And here I feel I must stress a point essential to what might be called the background omelet-making, namely that the frying pan must be never washed with water but rubbed, when hot, with salt and tissue-paper, as this is the only way to prevent sticking.

            From three portions, we take six eggs, break them into a bowl, season them with salt and freshly ground pepper, and add a good teaspoonful of water. We beat this lightly with a fork or the wire-broom, not the whisk, until large bubbles from on the top. This takes half a minute; it is fatal to beat too long. Meanwhile, our frying-pan is getting hot not too hot, and we drop in an once and a half of butter, or butter and best lard, over a quick flame for a minute or two, until it gives no froth and has turned light golden. We give our egg-mixture another stir and pour it into the pan, letting it spread evenly over the frying pan.

            All this is a swift business, and we may well fell a few extra heartbeats and a little breathlessness at that moment. The flame is now turned down a little. With a fork or palette knife   (a fork seems to work particularly well) we loosen the edges of the omelet all around and, once or twice, in the middle, letting the liquid flow into the empty spaces, taking care always to move towards the middle.

            This takes about two minutes. Then, keeping as calm as we possibly cann, we fold it. This is easy if we fold over and pin down with two or three fork-pricks about an inch and a-half of the omelet along one side. The, it is quite easy to roll it into shape.

            Our omelet should be golden brown outside and wet inside: baveuse, as the classical French term says. It is then slid on to a hot plate and it’s shiny with a little butter. This last touch makes all the difference.

What is the only way to prevent sticking?