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Omelet, with Fine Herbs

A quick omelet cooked with butter and finely chopped herbs, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,563 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Omelet, with Fine Herbs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper until well mixed.

  2. Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the eggs into the skillet and cook until the edges begin to set.

  2. Sprinkle the herbs over the eggs and gently fold the omelet in half.

  3. Cook for another minute until the center is just set, then serve immediately.

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. Parsley + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Chive + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together589 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into the structure of the omelet as they cook, holding it together when folded.
Butter
Adds richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Fresh herbs
Add aroma and fresh flavor to the eggs.

The step that matters

Cook for another minute until the center is just set, then serve immediately.. Eggs keep cooking from residual heat after leaving the pan, so pulling the omelet when the center is just set keeps it tender rather than dry and rubbery.

Swap the chive

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, parsley, tarragon, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits about as well
  2. Chivethe original
  3. Asparagusfits less well
  4. Carrotfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, parsley, tarragon, 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.

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