The Preparation of Fried Eggs

Œufs frits teach the discipline of à la minute cooking, food made at the instant it is wanted. One egg at a time. That is the one true thing to know before you touch the pan: crowd the oil and the whites tangle, the temperature falls, and the yolks lose the small protection this method is built to give them.

The source assumes an omelet pan kept ready over the range, stretched linen for draining, and enough hands to repeat the motion through service. It needs no saucier, permanent stockpot, or salamander. At home, a 20-centimeter heavy skillet and a wire rack over absorbent paper do the work; I have scaled the open-ended required quantity to four eggs and changed only the draining cloth. The one-at-a-time frying and the fold of white over yolk are the dish, not brigade scaffolding.

When it is right, the outside white is blistered and crisp at its fringes, the folded centre tender, and the yolk soft beneath its little blanket. The movement is quick but not fussy. Let the white catch, draw it over the yolk with a wooden spoon, and lift the egg before the yolk firms. Wait for the first faint thread of smoke, then fry one egg, and only one egg.