How to make a Striped Omelette

I often find myself assuring people that omelettes are not difficult to make. Seems there can be some apprehension when it comes to making this classic egg dish. In fact, all you need is the right equipment (I'd recommend an 8-inch (20 cm) pan for a 2 to 3 egg omelette), the right heat (medium-high), a little know-how, and a little practice. Then along comes the Striped Omelette!! Take a look!

Striped Mushroom Omelette from Modernist Cuisine

If you're wondering 'how did they do that?' (and how could you not be curious?!), you'll want to check out this link to the Modernist Cuisine website where you can see how this omelette is made, and get the recipe. This link shows a somewhat modified version of the omelette, just slightly better suited for making at home! Be forewarned. Cooking this particular omelette requires some kitchen gadgetry not typically found in the average home kitchen. The recipe for Striped Mushroom Omelette is just one of the 1500 recipes in the  Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking, a six volume set of cookbooks co-authored by Nathan Myhrvold, Chris Young, and Maxime Bilet. This trio, along with the 20-person team that worked with them in their cooking lab, used equipment such as homogenizers, centrifuges and water baths along with ingredients such as enzymes and hydrocolloids to create science-based techniques for preparing food. Modernist cuisine - definitely! At about $600, the Modernist Cuisine cookbook set is probably not something most cookbook lovers will have on their Christmas wish list, but if you're intrigued about the whys and hows of cooking, you'll want to poke around the Modernist Cuisine website. On the FAQ page, it was interesting to read Nathan Myhrvold's answer when asked which recipes in Modernist Cuisine he finds himself making most frequently.....

"The recipe in the book that I use most is the one for scrambled eggs—I make them for myself several times a week. I never cook scrambled eggs on the stove anymore. For three scrambled eggs, I throw away one egg white (so I use two whole eggs and one egg yolk). I mix them, toss in some cheese, and then put them in a combi oven for 15 minutes at 64°C / 165°F. To my taste, they are perfect that way."

Those eggs! Fun to experiment with and delicious to eat! By the way, a combi oven is a combination steam and convection oven. Not something found in the most kitchens.