Skip to main content
Main

French Omelet

A French omelet made by beating yolks with water, salt, pepper, and folded with beaten whites, then cooked slowly until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Butter and egg 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 ↓

French Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggs

  1. Separate 4 eggs.

  2. Beat yolks until thick; add ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and 4 tablespoons warm water.

  3. Fold in beaten whites.

Cook the omelet

  1. Butter the sides and bottom of a hot omelet pan; pour the mixture, spread evenly, and cook slowly until a delicate brown forms underneath.

  2. Place the pan on the grate of the oven to cook the top.

  3. Check that the omelet is firm and dry when touched with a finger.

  4. Fold over, turn on a hot plate, and serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

186Calories
7 gProtein
17 gFat
2 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

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.

  1. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whites trapped with air give the omelet its light, tender structure, while yolks add richness and set into a soft body.
Butter
Coats the hot pan so the omelet releases cleanly and browns gently on the base.
Warm water
Turns to steam in the hot pan, adding moisture and lightness to the set eggs.

The step that matters

Cook the omelet slowly over moderate heat. Egg proteins set and toughen when overheated. Cooking slowly keeps the omelet tender and moist and lets a delicate brown form underneath without scorching.

“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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesYorkshire PuddingYorkshire Pudding264 recipes