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 ↓
Omelets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Beat the yolks of 6 eggs and the whites of 3 eggs together until well combined.
Add salt and water to the egg mixture and mix well.
Cook and serve
Melt the butter in a small, round frying pan over medium heat.
Once the butter is hot, pour in the egg mixture.
Shake the pan constantly or stir the eggs until they begin to firm up.
Lift the edges of the omelet with a knife to allow the butter to flow underneath.
When cooked to your liking, roll the omelet 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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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
- Provide the structure that sets into the tender body of the omelet as they cook.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and flavor and helps keep the omelet from sticking to the pan.
- Water
- Adds moisture that turns to steam, keeping the omelet soft and light.
The step that matters
Shake or stir the eggs as they begin to set. Constant movement keeps the egg proteins forming small, tender curds instead of one tough sheet. Letting them sit too long on the heat makes the texture rubbery and dry.
“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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