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Omelet, with Fine Herbs

A lightly cooked egg dish flavored with fresh parsley, chives, and tarragon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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. In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt and pepper.

  2. Add the chopped herbs and mix well.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat the butter in a skillet over medium heat until melted.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook until the edges begin to set.

  3. Gently lift the edges with a spatula, allowing uncooked eggs to flow underneath.

  4. When the omelet is mostly set but still slightly runny on top, fold it in half 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. 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 a tender structure as they cook, forming the body of the omelet.
Butter
Coats the skillet and adds richness while preventing the eggs from sticking.
Fresh parsley
Adds fresh, green aroma and flavor to the eggs.
Fresh chives
Contribute a mild onion-like aroma and freshness to the eggs.
Fresh tarragon
Adds a distinct anise-like aroma that flavors the eggs.

The step that matters

Stop cooking while the top is still slightly runny. Eggs keep setting from residual heat after leaving the pan. Folding and serving once mostly set but still slightly runny keeps the omelet tender, while overcooking makes it dry and rubbery.

Swap the chive

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

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

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