Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the yolks of 6 eggs and the whites of 3 eggs together with salt and water.
Melt the butter in a small, round frying pan over medium heat.
Cook and serve
Pour the egg mixture into the hot butter, shaking the pan constantly or stirring until the eggs firm up.
Lift the edges of the omelet with a knife to allow the butter underneath.
Gather the edges, roll the omelet, and serve on a hot dish.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into a tender structure as they firm up, forming the body of the omelette.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lightness, helping the omelette hold its shape when cooked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and prevents sticking, and lets the omelette slide and roll easily.
The step that matters
Pour the egg mixture into the hot butter and keep the pan moving. Eggs set quickly on contact with hot fat. Constant shaking or stirring keeps the curds small and tender, while letting them sit still makes a tough, rubbery surface.
“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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