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Baked Omelette Aux Fines Herbes

A baked omelette made with eggs, milk, corn starch, herbs, and seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Baked Omelette Aux Fines Herbes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Grease a pudding dish with butter and pour in the omelette mixture.

Make the omelette

  1. Beat the egg yolks until light, then pour in the hot milk.

  2. Stir in the corn starch mixture and season with salt and pepper.

  3. Whip the egg whites until frothy and fold them into the mixture, followed by the herbs.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for about 12 minutes, or until set in the middle, but do not overbake to avoid a leathery texture.

  2. 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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  5. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 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
Whipped whites lift the omelette and the yolks set it into a custard-like body.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, so the omelette stays tender rather than dry.
Corn starch
Thickens the milk and egg mixture so it holds together when set.
Parsley
Adds fresh, grassy aroma to the eggs.
Thyme
Adds earthy, savory aroma to the eggs.
Sweet marjoram
Adds a mild, floral herbal aroma to the eggs.

The step that matters

Bake only until just set. Egg proteins set as they heat, and overbaking tightens them further, squeezing out moisture and leaving a rubbery, leathery texture. Removing the dish once the centre just firms keeps the omelette tender as it rests.

Swap the marjoram

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

  1. Marjoramthe original
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits less well
  4. Sagefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, corn, parsley, thyme, 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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