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Washington Omelet

A quick omelet with ham, butter, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and butter 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 ↓

Washington Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Make the omelet

  1. Beat the eggs thoroughly until well mixed.

  2. Heat a little butter in an omelet pan.

  3. Pour the beaten eggs into the hot pan.

  4. When the eggs begin to rise, sprinkle the chopped ham and a little salt on top.

  5. Cut around the sides with a knife.

Serve

  1. Prepare a hot dish and roll the omelet over into it.

  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. Ham + buttertop 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).

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, forming its body.
Ham
Adds savoury flavour and chewy texture against the soft eggs.
Butter
Prevents sticking and adds richness and flavour to the pan surface.

The step that matters

Pour the beaten eggs into the hot pan. A properly heated pan with melted butter lets the eggs set quickly on contact, keeping the omelet tender. If the pan is too cool, the eggs stick and cook slowly, while overheating browns and toughens them.

“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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