Throughout chef Jacques Pepin's career as a world-renowned chef, he has emphasized the importance of mastering the fundamentals of cooking. This includes how to prepare simple egg dishes, which many believe to be the true measure of a chef's abilities, and Pepin has his own trick for making perfectly smooth scrambled eggs.

When Pepin beats his eggs, he reserves a small amount of eggs for the end of the cooking process. When he pulls his slightly runny scrambled eggs off the heat, he whisks in the reserved eggs and some heavy cream, two cold additions that halt the cooking process and ensure that the scramble reaches an ideal soft consistency.

When cooking the eggs, Pepin adds a small amount of cold butter to a sturdy skillet set over medium-low heat and adds the eggs once the butter melts. He gently but consistently whisks them, scraping the bottom of the pan as he goes, and folds them over themselves occasionally until they are just set but still slightly runny.