Thread by @misen__

The great omelette thread of 2018:

I’m an omelette enthusiast. And this is the closest I’ve ever got to perfection.

It doesn’t look like much. But it’s the best thing any of us has eaten for a while.

Omelettes became a special interest of sorts when a kitchen I worked in had a competition. Winner takes the pot, £10 per entry. I won, but since then my technique has bloomed like a beautiful eggy flower.

I eat an omelette nearly every day, if I’m at home.

I’ve made or eaten eggs in every silly way you can think of - a really good omelette is still the top of the pile IME.

Even Passard’s egg dishes don’t beat a really good omelette.

Here are some tips:
- source very good eggs if you can.
- cheese is not necessary but it’s my favourite. A good cheddar or comte, microplaned for easy melting.
- If you can get good butter, great! Even cheap butter is fine. No spreads. Use more than sensible.

- Technique is nearly everything. You need good ingredients, but technique is what distinguishes rubber from the most luxurious egg thing you can make.

- Technique (roughly!):

Beat two eggs w/ salt. Let them rest whilst getting your butter hot (~30g in an 8inch non-stick).

Using a spatula, whisk the eggs rapidly on high heat; when you have a ‘wet scramble’ - 🤷‍♂️ - turn off. Takes seconds. Even & fill the cracks with uncooked egg from top layer.

Now put your cheese in the middle and season w/ pepper.

If you want to put in other fillings, now is the time.

Then roll up the omelette to the side of the pan, and after 20 seconds, roll onto a plate to rest.

What should happen, is the residual heat is enough to melt the cheese and cook the last out of egg so that it is warm inside, but soft and still a bit loose

The speed of this technique is what makes the difference. I’ve seen cooks trained in 3* kitchens fuck this up. Sorry Trev.

Finish with some good sea salt flakes.

Unecessary options include some flat parsley or wood sorrel (something lightly acidic).

This is all about feel & repetition, like a granny who can eyeball a volume of liquid and know how much salt it will need, or feeling the weight of a steak and knowing how long it’s going to take.

An omelette is to many people, incredibly dull. That’s because most people have never had a really good omelette or know how to enjoy one

I had an omelette cooked by a Japanese chef, using Japanese technique, layering with French cheese. That was a worthy, different technique.

The Japanese Tamagoyaki - done well - shares the factor of cooking the egg quickly, although they do this multiple times, rolling in layers.

They also rest the omelette, which if done properly will allow room for the residual heat to finish the cooking, instead of overcooking.

A good omelette and the process that gives rise to one - including the enjoyment there of - is a good metaphor for various things, as you learn if you hang around me. Eg: meditation (surprise).

Not everyone can access a very good omelette, even when it’s in front of them. It’s hidden to them, sadly.

This gets weirder - stuff about omelette as god, a good omelette not being an object, nor subjective, and so on - but my phone is ringing and my lunch break is over.

A month of omelette craft, admirable project:

https://twitter.com/strnglrk/status/1146861097082900480?s=20

Also whilst I'm here, someone sent me a clip of Kinch making an omelette. Nice, even if I disagree with him re: salting.