Over Easy O O O

Over Easy O O O BY GENEVIEVE KO Cooking eggs is often considered the basic measure of a cook. (See page ! for Wolfgang Puck’s two cents.) Famously, André Soltner’s interviews for aspiring cooks at Lutèce didn’t involve a resumé. It required eggs and butter and dexterity, because there are two kinds of cooks—those who can competently make a French omelet and those who can’t. BÁNH XÈO TAMAGOYAKI From Jimmy Tu From Michael Anthony !" Lucky Peach The omelet is an exacting dish to cook, but has DANIEL BOULUD’S OMELETTE FARCIE no limits in its variety. Anyone who’s been trained in French kitchens—or watched Julia Child—has been MAKES " OMELET; SERVES # TO $ told that an omelet must never brown. But the mark of a great Japanese tamagoyaki is the lines of golden aniel Boulud is not happy. Someone forgot to bring brown between the tissue-thin layers, like the rings Dhis omelet pan—the black steel skillet he’s seasoned on an old oak. And the best part of the Vietnamese egg over decades, flipping out thousands of eggs. Boulud had crêpe, bánh xèo, is the nearly burnt crisp edges. And prepped every last detail of this omelet demonstration, even if there isn’t one “right” way to cook an omelet, even though he’s just flown in from Asia, launched his there is a right way to cook each type of omelet. redesigned Manhattan restaurant DB Bistro Moderne, As I watched each of the chefs prepare his ome- and promoted his new cookbook within the last five days. let for this feature, I witnessed the intensity good eggs “I did this with Craig Claiborne twenty-five, thirty require. Even though Jimmy Tu makes his bánh xèo years ago,” he recalls. a hundred times a night, he never takes his eyes o! Boulud’s brow remains furrowed when he starts the pan. The ever-humble Michael Anthony began by setting up his bowl and whisk and explaining why his is emphasizing how his tamago can’t compare to those the perfect omelet. It’s about the fat-to-eggs ratio, and made by many Japanese chefs. Daniel Boulud seemed to get more fat into the omelet, he fills it with creamy haunted by the memory of learning the omelette farcie. scrambled eggs. And more butter. It’s a classic omelette He recalled cooking it for competitions as a young chef, farcie, but the farcie is more eggs. and how harshly the judges critiqued the eggs. I wanted “This is an a!air with a partner,” he says of the wet, to know if he thinks a better omelet exists, if there’s a hot scrambled eggs stu!ed into the taut omelet. “When newer, improved form of the French omelet. He men- they meet…” tioned the thermoblender and siphon, then thought He trails o! when he starts whisking his scrambled about it some more. Gesturing toward his omelet, he eggs in a bain marie. Pulling the pan on and o! the crazy- said, “Could this ever be improved? If I did it ten more hot flat-top to control the heat, Boulud keeps warning times, then it’d be really perfect.” everyone that this will take thirty minutes. Maybe twenty, OMELETTE FARCIE From Daniel Boulud Lucky Peach !" but it can’t be rushed. His handlers check their watches. whisks in cold butter to stop the cooking. He puts them Boulud’s focused on the bowl, watching for curds. Despite aside, then butters up his hot pan, and pours in more the fact that he has more than a dozen restaurants beaten eggs. around the globe, Boulud now seems as intent as a teen- Up to this point, Boulud’s been whisking with a steady aged apprentice on perfecting his scramble. rhythm as mellow as a straw broom sweeping a patio. He was fifteen when he first made this omelet as an Now, he’s all Stomp!, striking the fork through the eggs apprentice in Lyon. All the young chefs had to dem- with near violence while shaking the pan. He slams the onstrate the technique before judges to advance their skillet against the grate and says, “Now you tap!” His palm careers. flies against the base of the handle, as if he’s trying to kill “You don’t want any part of the eggs to curdle before a fly. The round disk jolts and rolls. Boulud taps again, they can all curdle together at the same time. See how it’s then once more. The egg’s rolled three-quarters of the starting to foam and thicken? This is basically like making way and he quickly spoons a line of the custardy scram- a custard without cream, milk, or fat.” bled eggs onto the remaining unfolded egg before flipping The time- and labor-intensiveness is why Boulud the omelet onto a porcelain plate. doesn’t make omelettes ten times a night, or serve it at Boulud drapes a spotless linen napkin over the ome- his restaurants or regularly make it for himself at home. let and tucks in the sides with gentleness usually reserved When he does, he says he likes it with warm buttered pain for sleeping babies. He uncovers the perfectly symmetri- de mie, crème fraîche, and smoked salmon. Or caviar. cal torpedo and slits it down the center and stu!s it with Once the foam dissipates and the eggs get a little more scrambled egg. He lifts up the plate, examines it shiny, Boulud sets a substitute omelet pan over another from every angle with the intense glare of a judge, and flame. He pulls the barely set scramble from the heat and declares, “That is why I’m Daniel Boulud.” Beat # eggs with a fork eggs will foam on top, then eggs will start to thicken and This process will take !" to ! to blend, season with salt the foam will subside and the become opaque and creamy. #" minutes. You will whisk and pepper, and beat again to them steadily and constantly mix. Don’t beat any foam into the entire time. the eggs. Set aside. Once the scrambled Bring $ inches water & eggs coalesce and form $ to a steady simmer in a tiny curds—they’ll resemble saucepan that will hold a large a loose porridge—remove metal bowl snugly. the bowl from the saucepan and immediately add Whisk % eggs in the ! T cold butter to slow the metal bowl to break, % cooking. ( Boulud added in then whisk in a pinch of salt more butter than he originally and a twist of pepper. Set planned because “extra fat the bowl over the simmer- brings sexiness.” If only that ing water and whisk continu- were true about my waistline, ously, adjusting the heat to too.) Whisk in the butter until keep the water just simmer- melted, then fold in the chives. ing and to prevent the eggs Set aside. from curdling too fast. The INGREDIENTS FOR OMELETTE FARCIE " large eggs # T cold unsalted butter, cut into $⁄%" cubes + kosher salt # T chives, super finely sliced, plus more for + freshly ground white pepper garnish (for better presentation) + clarified butter !" Lucky Peach Daniel Boulud photos by Colin Lane Jimmy Tu photos by Gabriele Stabile sides, then add the remaining until the egg has rolled three- ! T butter. As soon as it melts, quarters of the way. Spoon add the reserved beaten eggs. a line of the scrambled eggs Swirl to coat the bottom and onto the open flap, leaving !" ½" up the sides of the pan. on all sides. Tap the pan again Let stand until the edges are for the final roll, then flip the just set, then immediately pull omelet onto a dish, seam side in the edges with a fork and down. beat the eggs by moving the Drape a clean kitchen fork in a circular motion while towel over the omelet vigorously swirling the pan in " and gently encourage it into a the opposite direction. When torpedo shape. With a sharp the eggs are barely set but knife, cut a slit down the center, still runny, slam the pan flat leaving #" uncut on both ends. against the stove grate. Use the tip of the knife to Use an open palm to carefully open the slit an inch % forcefully rap the pan’s wide, and spoon the remaining handle near where it meets the scrambled eggs in and on top of Heat a !$-inch black until hot. Add enough clari- pan. The egg should slide and the slit. Garnish with chives and steel omelet pan or fied butter to the omelet pan # roll a bit. Repeat the tapping serve immediately. nonstick over medium heat to coat the bottom and the faraway train station for the much-Yelped-about bánh JIMMY TU’S BÁNH XÈO xèo. Some call it an omelet, others a crêpe, but Tu’s is the Siamese-twin version: a sheen of egg fused to a MAKES ! CRÊPE; SERVES ! OR " crisp, thin rice pancake. unker is like a hipster food fantasy: seasonal authen- Though he travels regularly to Vietnam, Tu says he Btic Vietnamese in a may-never-gentrify industrial hasn’t had a better bánh xèo than the one his mom border town straddling Queens and Brooklyn, on a block makes in Elmhurst—three miles away. He throws a little of low-slung scrap metal yards that make the sun freak- turmeric into his crêpe batter for its curried edge, and ishly bright and give the sky a Nebraskan feel. It also serves some of the best Vietnamese food in New York.

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