At Café Campagne, omelets are served the classic French way - buttery, silky and smooth. The Omelette Basquaise is flavored with herbs and filled with Agour sheep cheese, then served with a baguette and a sweet pepper, garlic, tomato and ham compote.

Take the egg. A symbol of spring and fertility, the simple egg is one of our basic foods. Humans have been eating eggs in one form or another since the beginning of time. Or at least since the beginning of birds. There are countless ways to prepare them, and everyone has a favorite. People are picky about their eggs.

The omelet — perhaps the most perfect expression of all eggs — is no exception. For an unbelievably simple dish, the omelet has generated as much fuss from famous chefs as the secret to a soufflé or the right way to roast a chicken. Is a nonstick pan the only way to go? Do you dare add liquid, or must you keep it out? Is butter better, or oil? Debate rages. You'd never believe such neighborhood-diner fare could provoke all this clucking.

The word omelet, according to "Larousse Gastronomique," comes from the French lamelle (small blade), because of its flat shape. Julia Child, the goddess of French cooking, sets it forth thusly: "A good French omelette is a smooth, gently swelling, golden oval that is tender and creamy inside. And as it takes less than half a minute to make, it is ideal for a quick meal."

So if it's so simple, why all this frenzy? Let's start with the sticky business of the pan. Child is adamant about using a nonstick pan, but admits that the famous omelet queens in France used metal (aluminum or iron). She writes in "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (Vol. 1) that eggs must be able to slide around freely: "If they cannot, you simply cannot make an omelette at all."

Cook's Illustrated, which evaluated omelet-making methods in its exacting test kitchen, found that "a good-quality nonstick skillet with gently sloping sides is the superior implement." However, renowned New York chef Carrie Levin declares you should never use a nonstick pan. Levin runs the Good Enough to Eat restaurant, praised by Bon Appétit magazine for offering one of the 10 best breakfasts in America. She also did her thesis on eggs. Levin insists that the best pan for omelets is a thick, heavy stainless steel or aluminum one that's conditioned with salt or oil.

Café Campagne Serves 1
Filling: 1 tablespoon butter 1 teaspoon olive oil 1 teaspoon minced shallots 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic 1/4 head escarole, bitter core removed, broken into 3-inch pieces 2 to 4 tablespoons chicken stock or water 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh goat cheese, crumbled Omelette: 3 eggs Salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon clarified butter 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley and chives To make the filling: 1. Bring a small sauté pan to medium heat. Add the butter and olive oil, shallots and garlic. Heat until foamy. Add the escarole and toss with tongs until wilted. Add the stock or water and simmer until reduced and absorbed by the escarole. Set aside to cool, then chop into half-inch pieces and set aside in a bowl. To make the omelette: 1. Clean the skillet or use a separate omelette pan. 2. In a bowl, crack the eggs and beat well. Add salt and pepper. 3. Heat the pan over medium heat. Add the clarified butter and heat until it ripples but is not smoking. Pour the beaten eggs into the middle of the pan and spread them out to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle parsley and chives over the eggs, then stir with a fork as if you were making scrambled eggs. 4. In about a minute, the eggs will start to set. Put the escarole mixture and goat cheese in a line down the middle of the omelette. Using a fork, pull one side of the omelette off the pan and fold it into the middle so it's halfway closed. Repeat on the other side to close the omelette. Bring a plate up to the edge of the pan and gently roll the omelette onto the plate. Serve with a baguette. Print friendly version.

Despite the disagreements, there is some consensus that the skillet must be absolutely clean, heavy and free of scratches to avoid sticky eggs. Most authorities also suggest a 7- or 8-inch skillet for a three-egg omelet. The key is making sure the egg mixture isn't too thick in the pan. To feed more people, make multiple small omelets, not bigger ones.

To crack the omelet-making code, I sought the advice of Daisley Gordon, executive chef of Seattle's Campagne and Café Campagne. Gordon serves about 120 French-style omelets every weekend at Café Campagne. Maybe he could separate fact from fervor.

Thankfully, Gordon offered some real-world practicality. At his restaurant, he makes a three-egg omelet in nonstick pans with clarified butter. Why nonstick? Because it's a lot faster if you're making 60 omelets a day. And home cooks still working on their technique will appreciate its more forgiving nature.

As for the cooking, Gordon and other chefs suggest initially stirring the eggs in the pan to slow it down. With a fork or spatula, lift up the edges as they set and tilt the pan so the liquid runs underneath the already set egg.

To make a classic French rolled omelet, either use a fork to turn the omelet over on itself, or, if you're confident enough, tilt the pan slightly and quickly jerk it toward you. To loosen the eggs, you might also have to pound on the handle with your fist.

Sound like a lot of work for a plate of eggs? It may be, until you get in the groove with your own technique. One friend has an assembly line on weekends, with two omelet pans fired up, filling ingredients prepped and a bowl of beaten eggs ready to ladle out for individual orders.

One person may like a browner, drier omelet while the next may prefer a pale, creamy one. Experiment 'til your technique and tastes match. Now, that doesn't sound so hard, does it?.

Catherine M. Allchin is a Seattle-based freelance writer. Barry Wong is a Pacific Northwest magazine staff photographer.