Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Savoury Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
Beat the eggs thoroughly in a bowl, then add pepper, salt, parsley, and herbs.
Cook the omelet
Pour the egg mixture into the frying pan as soon as the butter begins to sizzle.
Scrape the bottom of the frying pan with a spoon until two-thirds of the mixture is lumpy.
Lift the pan slightly off the heat and fold the omelet in half.
Tilt the pan in front of the heat until the omelet is nearly set.
Serve
Slide the omelet onto a hot dish and serve immediately.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Parsley + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into the structure of the omelet as they cook, holding the filling together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor and keeps the eggs from sticking to the pan.
The step that matters
Scrape the bottom of the frying pan with a spoon until two-thirds of the mixture is lumpy.. Stirring the egg as it begins to set forms soft curds that cook evenly. Stopping too early or too late changes whether the omelet turns out tender or rubbery.
“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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