and patience; they will take several minutes to
cook. The eggs should be added to the pan just
as butter begins to bubble, or oil makes a
water drop dance gently. Texture is
determined by how and when the eggs are
disturbed. Large, irregular curds result if the
cook lets the bottom layer set for some time
before scraping to distribute the heat.
Constant scraping and stirring prevents the
egg proteins at the bottom from setting into a
separate, firm layer, and produces a creamy,
even mass of yolk and thin white punctuated
with very fine curds of thick white. Scrambled
eggs should be removed from the pan while
still slightly underdone, since they will
continue to thicken for some time with their
residual heat.
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