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Meat Omelet

A quick omelet made with chopped cooked ham, eggs, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Meat Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine the chopped ham and eggs in a bowl, then add pepper and beat until mixed.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat a frying pan and add a good amount of butter.

  2. Pour the mixture into the hot pan.

  3. When the omelet is set, fold one half over the other.

  4. Let it stand for a few minutes before serving.

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.

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. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a firm, tender structure that holds the omelet together when cooked.
Cooked ham
Adds savory flavor and substance, distributed through the egg mixture.
Butter
Coats the pan so the omelet releases cleanly and adds richness and light browning.

The step that matters

Cooking the omelet in a hot pan. Eggs set quickly in a hot, buttered pan, giving a tender, cohesive omelet. If the heat is too low the eggs cook slowly and become rubbery, and if the pan is too hot the bottom can scorch before the top sets.

“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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