The Expert Way Julia Child Made Perfect Omelets Without Them Sticking

Before Julia Child became an institution in home television cooking, she captured her audience on her first day at work by preparing one of the easiest dishes to cook — an omelet. The French omelet was the first dish Child ever made for the small screen, but while it appeared simple to create, there's a big difference between a French and American-style omelet. The French version's delicate technique can cause eggs to stick to the pan — making the dish deceptively challenging.

To ensure that her French omelet was perfect and wouldn't cling to the cookware's surface, Child didn't solely rely on her cooking skills. Instead, she prepared her pan so the eggs could glide freely while cooking. She shared her hack for turning an ordinary pan into the perfect, nonstick omelet-maker on her show, "The French Chef." Child said, "If you have either an iron pan ... or an aluminum one, you have to season it first before you use it. ... You heat it until it's just a little too warm for your hand. ... Then you pour oil in it, and then you let it sit overnight." She added that before using the pan, put salt on its surface and rub it with a paper towel. Wipe out the excess salt before placing it on the stove. There's no need to wash the pan before cooking.

While anyone nowadays can learn online what they should know about seasoning pans, the idea might have been novel to some TV audiences back when Julia Child's first television show premiered in the United States in 1963. While showing her hack to viewers, Child explained in layman's terms how and why conditioning the pan with oil before cooking was crucial to pull off the perfect French omelet. "It has to have oil in it. I guess it has pores that drink up oil like people's skin," she quipped on her show.

True enough, the surface of the cookware is porous, so it soaks up the oil, creating a natural nonstick effect that's perfect for something as delicate as eggs. While salt absorbs the excess moisture on the surface, it also allows the oil to seep into the pan, reinforcing the nonstick layer. It makes sense that Child did not recommend washing the pan before using it to preserve this new layer. According to her, if you decide to wash it, you should oil the pan again to ensure that the food you're cooking won't stick.