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Omelette Parmentier

A simple omelette with diced potatoes and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Omelette Parmentier

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and add a pinch of chopped parsley.

  2. In a hot omelette pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter.

Cook

  1. Add the diced potato to the pan and sauté until hot.

  2. Pour the beaten eggs over the sautéed potatoes.

  3. Cook the omelette until set, then fold and 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. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  2. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  3. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 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 to form the body of the omelette as they cook.
Potato
Adds bulk and a soft, tender texture inside the omelette.
Butter
Adds richness and helps keep the omelette from sticking to the pan.

The step that matters

Cook the omelette until set, then fold and serve immediately.. Eggs turn firm as their proteins coagulate with heat. Removing the omelette once just set keeps it tender, while overcooking makes it dry and rubbery. Folding and serving right away keeps it soft.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

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