Omelets

If good scrambled eggs demand patience, a good omelet takes panache—a two- or three-egg omelet cooks in less than a minute. Escoffier described the omelet as scrambled eggs held together in a coagulated envelope, a skin of egg heated past the moist, tender stage to the dry and tough, so that it has the strength to contain and shape the rest. Its formation requires a hotter pan than do evenly tender scrambled eggs. But a hot pan means fast cooking to avoid overcooking.