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Savoury Omelet

A quick omelet made with eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Savoury Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break the eggs into a bowl.

  2. Add salt and pepper to taste.

  3. Wash, dry, and finely chop the parsley, then add it to the eggs.

  4. Beat the eggs lightly with a fork for a few seconds.

Cook the omelet

  1. Melt the butter in an omelet or frying pan over medium heat and wait until it is hot but not burning.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the pan.

  3. Stir the mixture quickly with a wooden spoon, shaking the pan to prevent sticking.

  4. Spread the mixture evenly across the bottom of the pan and let it cook through.

  5. Carefully fold the omelet in half using a knife when it turns pale brown.

  6. Turn the omelet out onto a hot dish to serve.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a tender structure when heated, forming the body of the omelet.
Butter
Coats the pan to prevent sticking and adds richness and flavor to the eggs.
Salt
Seasons the eggs and slightly strengthens their protein network for a tender texture.

The step that matters

Stirring and shaking while the eggs set. Eggs cook quickly at medium heat. Stirring keeps small curds forming evenly while shaking loosens the edges, so the omelet stays tender and does not stick or overcook.

“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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