Omelet à la Provençale

Omelette à la Provençale (Provençal tomato omelet) teaches the cleanest rule in egg cookery: a wet garnish makes wet curds. The tomato must surrender its seeds and loose juice before it meets the pan, then cook quickly enough to keep its shape and brightness. Its olive oil should gleam through the eggs, not collect as a watery puddle beneath them.

The original entry assumed a dedicated, well-seasoned omelet pan and a hand practiced enough to judge the oil by its first wisp of smoke. It needed no saucier, stockpot, or salamander, and neither do you. For four, a broad 12-inch nonstick skillet is the honest home equivalent, and eight eggs turn the original garnish into one generous family omelette. The vessel and serving size have changed; the garlic rub, two tablespoons of oil, tomato concassé, parsley, and quick cooking sequence remain. The pan is scaffolding. Those steps are the dish.

Concassé (roughly chopped tomato) means more than careless chopping here: peel it, seed it, press it gently dry, and cut it into small dice. If the tomato floods the hot oil, keep tossing until the loose liquid disappears. Ça se rattrape. This is the one step that decides the omelette, so dry the tomato before you touch the pan.