Why it works: Basil and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,351 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Omelet Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the omelets
Make 2-3 thin omelets, adding sweet basil to the eggs.
Shape and coat
Cut the omelets into small pieces and shape them like olives.
Dip the pieces in batter.
Wrap them in puff pastry.
Fry and serve
Fry the fritters in hot oil until golden brown.
Serve with fried parsley.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Basil + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,351 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Egg + basiltop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,534 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into thin omelets that hold the filling and give the fritters their structure.
- Sweet basil
- Adds aroma and a herbal flavour to the egg filling.
- Batter or puff pastry
- Forms a crisp outer coating that browns in the hot oil.
The step that matters
Fry the fritters in hot oil until golden brown. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of crisp. Frying until golden brown also cooks the egg filling through and sets the coating.
Swap the basil
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, parsley):
- Dillfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Basilthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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