Jacques Pépin's Classic French Omelette

Beat the eggs with the salt, pepper and herbs in a bowl with a fork until well-combined; that is, when you lift up the fork, pieces of egg white should no longer separate from the yolk; the egg should be well homogenized.

Melt the butter over high heat in an 8-inch nonstick skillet. Swirl the butter in the pan and, when it is foaming, add the eggs. Holding the fork flat, stir the eggs as fast as you can while shaking the pan with your other hand. Continue without stopping to shake and stir at the same time so the eggs coagulate uniformly.

Still stirring, notice that the eggs are still moist in the center. Incline your pan forward (away from you) so most of the eggs gather toward the far end of the pan as they set. Now stop stirring while the eggs are still moist in the center.

Using your fork, bring the thin lip of the omelet over toward the center of the omelet. Note that as the mass of eggs has moved toward the far end of the pan, the omelet has thinned out around the edges. Only the two thin lips are flipped over, first from one end, then the other, to enclose the thick, moist center. (If the mixture were left instead to sit in one even layer covering the whole bottom of the pan, it would be too spread out and would roll up like a jelly roll; thus the center would not be moist.)

Press the fold into place. This motion should create a roundish edge. Run your fork between the edge of the pan and the far lip of the omelet to loosen it. Using the palm of your hand, tap the handle of the pan gently to shake the omelet and make it twist and lift onto itself, so the far lip rises above the edge of the pan.

Fold the far lip back toward the center of the omelet, meeting the other lip. Press with the flat of the fork to make sure the omelet comes to a point at each end. While holding the serving plate in your left hand, first bang the far end of the pan gently so the omelet pulls together against the edge of the pan. Then invert the omelet onto the plate and serve immediately. The omelet should be very moist, creamy, and wet in the center.