Name: Beefsteak Omelet
Ingredients: one-half pounds steak; half cup milk; four pounds lean veal; one pound raw salt pork; one tablespoon pepper; two tablespoons of sage; four tablespoons of bread crumbs; half pint sweet cream; four eggs; salt; pepper; sage

Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,930 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,527 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Milk + porktop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,386 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Steak: Provides the main meaty body and texture of the dish once cooked.
Milk: Adds moisture and softness to the mixture as it cooks.
Salt pork: Adds fat and flavour that keeps the meat mixture moist and rich.
Bread crumbs: Absorb liquid and help bind the meat into a cohesive, tender mass.
Eggs: Set as they heat, giving the dish structure and holding it together.

The step that matters

Bake for half an hour. Egg and meat proteins set as they heat, and baking too long tightens them further and squeezes out moisture, leaving the dish dry and firm. Check for a set centre rather than relying only on the clock.

Swap the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, veal, pork, pepper, bread, cream, egg):

Nutmegfits better
Parsleyfits about as well
Sagethe original
Marjoramfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, veal, pork, pepper, bread, cream, egg. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Sage	1 tsp ground (0.7g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0

Beefsteak Omelet