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Breakfast

Hound the Table

A simple dish of beaten eggs cooked in an omelet pan, given here as a plain omelet with many variations.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Chevalley de Rivaz, Victor · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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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 ↓

Hound the Table

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggs

  1. Beat up two eggs in a basin with salt, pepper to taste, and a pinch of minced parsley.

  2. Breadcrumbs and a few morsels of butter may be added to the eggs.

  3. Beat the eggs only just before the mixture is put into the omelet pan, just enough to mix the whites and yolks.

Cook

  1. Put the mixture into the omelet pan.

  2. For the Parmesan omelet, beat three eggs with a tablespoonful or more of grated Parmesan, pepper and salt, fry to a light colour, and serve with grated Parmesan strewn over it.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

350Calories
35 gProtein
20 gFat
7 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Chive1 tbsp (3g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Chevalley de Rivaz, Victor. 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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Parsley + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Tomato + chivetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together538 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 when cooked, forming the body of the omelet.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and fat, giving a softer, more flavourful texture to the eggs.
Parmesan (in the method)
Adds savoury, salty flavour and a golden browning when melted and fried.

The step that matters

Beat the eggs only just before cooking. Beating just enough to combine whites and yolks keeps the mixture smooth and airy. Over-beating or letting it stand can thin the texture and make the omelet less tender when it sets.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, sauce, egg, ham, pepper, chive):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Welsh onionfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, sauce, egg, ham, pepper, chive. 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.

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