Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
Separate the eggs, beating the whites of 4 eggs until stiff and the yolks until light.
Mix the yolks with sweet milk, flour, and melted butter.
Cook the omelet
Heat a small amount of butter in a frying pan and pour in a third of the egg mixture.
As it begins to set, add a third of the beaten egg whites on top.
Cut into slices and roll with a broad knife, seasoning with salt and pepper as you turn it.
Repeat the process with the remaining egg mixture, serving hot.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whites are beaten for lift and airiness, while yolks enrich the batter and help it set.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the yolk batter.
- Flour
- Gives the batter body so it holds together when rolled.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and fat for flavor and tender texture.
The step that matters
Adding the beaten egg whites. Whites are beaten until stiff to trap air, which gives the omelet lift. Folding them in gently and adding them as the base begins to set keeps that air from collapsing.
“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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