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Tomato Omelette

A tomato and egg omelette cooked with butter, onions, and cracker.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Tomato Omelette

Ingredients

Directions

Make the tomato base

  1. Remove the skin from the tomatoes.

  2. Chop the tomatoes finely.

  3. Combine the tomatoes, onions, butter, salt, and pepper in a saucepan.

  4. Add the pounded cracker.

  5. Cover tightly.

  6. Simmer for about 1 hour.

Cook the omelette

  1. Beat the eggs until frothy.

  2. Heat a griddle.

  3. Grease the griddle well.

  4. Stir the eggs into the tomato mixture.

  5. Beat together.

  6. Pour the mixture into the griddle.

  7. Brown on one side.

  8. Fold.

  9. Brown on the other side.

  10. Serve hot.

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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + eggtop 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 when cooked, binding the omelette and giving it body.
Tomatoes
Provide moisture and acidity that flavour the omelette and soften into the sauce.
Onions
Add sweetness and aroma as they soften during the long simmer.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and aiding browning on the griddle.
Cracker
Absorbs liquid and thickens the tomato mixture, giving it body.

The step that matters

Simmer covered for about 1 hour. A long, covered simmer softens the tomatoes and onions and thickens the mixture. Cooking too hot or uncovered can scorch it or leave it watery, so the base needs gentle heat and a tight lid.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, butter, pepper, 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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