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Ham Omelette

A quick omelette made with eggs, butter, ham, pepper, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and ham 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 ↓

Ham Omelette

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them until the yolks and whites are blended.

  2. Melt 1 ounce of butter in an omelette pan.

  3. Stir the chopped ham, pepper, and salt into the beaten eggs.

  4. Pour half of the egg mixture into the pan with the hot butter.

  5. Stir until the omelette begins to set at the edges.

  6. Draw the omelette to one side of the pan and let it firm on the underside.

  7. Quickly turn the omelette over to cook the other side, then remove it to a hot platter.

  8. Repeat the process with the remaining egg mixture to make a second omelette.

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

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

  2. Egg + hamtop 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. Pepper + hamtop 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 tender structure when heated, forming the body of the omelette.
Butter
Coats the pan so the eggs release cleanly and adds richness to the flavour.
Cold boiled ham
Adds savoury flavour and chew to the filling of the omelette.

The step that matters

Stir until the omelette begins to set at the edges. Eggs set quickly when heated, and proteins that firm into a curd stay tender only if the mixture is not overcooked. Lifting and drawing the set edges lets the liquid egg flow underneath, so the omelette cooks evenly and stays soft rather than rubbery.

“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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