Name: Vegetarian Cookery
Ingredients: two ounces of butter; four ounces of butter; four ounces of grated parmesan cheese; three ounces of a floury potato; a good pinch of powdered savoury herbs; a piece of onion; a pint of milk; an ounce of butter; six beaten-up eggs in a basin; six well beaten- up eggs about four ounces of grated parmesan cheese; six eggs; two eggs; two yolks very thoroughly; parsley; pepper; salt; nutmeg

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 ↓

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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 omelet as it cooks.
Butter: Adds richness and helps keep the omelet from sticking to the pan.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savoury flavour and richness to the omelet.
Milk: Adds moisture and softness to the beaten eggs.

The step that matters

Beat the eggs to the right degree. Beating the eggs slightly or very thoroughly, as the butter amount calls for, changes the texture of the finished omelet. Overbeating or underbeating the eggs can make the result too loose or too dense.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parmesan cheese, potato, milk, egg, parsley, pepper):

Asparagusfits better
Chivefits better
Capsicumfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parmesan cheese, potato, milk, egg, parsley, pepper. 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
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Parmesan Cheese	1 oz (28g)	110
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Vegetarian Cookery