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Ham Omelet

A quick omelet made with eggs, ham, milk, butter, and cornstarch.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Ham Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Stir cornstarch into the milk.

  2. Add beaten eggs and minced ham; mix well.

Cook and serve

  1. Melt butter in an omelet pan over medium heat.

  2. Pour the mixture into the pan and cook until set.

  3. Serve hot.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

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

  3. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set when heated to form the body and structure of the omelette.
Milk
Adds moisture, so the eggs cook up softer and more tender.
Cornstarch
Starch holds onto moisture, helping the omelette stay tender rather than weepy.
Ham
Adds savory, salty flavor throughout the omelette.
Butter
Adds fat for rich flavor and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the pan.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture into the pan and cook until set. Egg proteins firm up with heat, and overcooking squeezes out moisture, leaving the omelette dry and rubbery. Cook gently over medium heat and stop once the eggs are just set.

“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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