Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Codfish Omelette with Two Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the base
Boil the codfish and potatoes together until cooked.
Add the butter, milk or cream, and one beaten egg to the mixture.
Bake and finish
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven, then pour the second beaten egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of cream over the mixture.
Return to the oven for about 5 minutes.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Codfish
- Provides the main flavour and flaked texture of the omelette.
- Potatoes
- Add body and starch that help bind the mixture together.
- Eggs
- Set when heated, giving the omelette its structure.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture and softness to the set egg.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Returning the omelette to the oven after adding the second egg. Egg proteins set as they heat. Too much time or heat past that point makes the egg tough, dry and rubbery, so it should be checked closely during the final 5 minutes.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, egg):
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits less well
- Leekfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, egg. 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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