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Rich Omelette

A thick, buttery omelette made with eggs, milk, flour, salt, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Rich Omelette

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs until thick and lemon-colored.

  2. Add the milk to the yolks.

  3. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together.

  4. Pour the flour mixture over the egg mixture.

  5. Add the melted butter and mix well.

  6. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

Cook the omelette

  1. Pour the mixture into a hot buttered skillet and let it set slightly.

  2. Lift the edges with a spatula to allow uncooked egg to flow underneath.

  3. Move to a hotter part of the stove to brown, shaking the pan continuously.

  4. Crease with the back of a knife.

  5. Fold over.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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
Yolks thicken the batter and whites, folded in, lighten it and help it set into a tender structure.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, thinning the batter so it cooks into a tender, creamy omelette.
Flour
Gives the batter body so it holds together and does not weep liquid when cooked.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor, and greases the skillet so the omelette releases and browns.

The step that matters

Move to a hotter part of the stove to brown, shaking the pan continuously. Egg proteins set quickly with high heat, so the omelette can overcook and turn rubbery before browning. Constant shaking keeps the underside from scorching while the top sets gently.

“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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