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Shrimp Omelet

A quick omelet made with eggs, shrimp, cream, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Shrimp Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Beat the eggs with cream, salt, pepper, and parsley.

  2. Add the shrimp to the egg mixture.

Cook and serve

  1. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

  2. Pour the egg and shrimp mixture into the skillet.

  3. Cook for a few minutes until set, then fold the omelet.

  4. Serve on a hot platter.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Shrimp + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,931 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

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

  5. Egg + buttertop 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 into the structure of the omelet as they cook.
Cream
Adds moisture and tenderness to the eggs.
Chopped boiled shrimp
Provides the main filling and savory flavor.
Butter
Fats the skillet and adds richness and browning to the surface.

The step that matters

Cook until just set, then fold. Eggs turn rubbery and dry when overcooked, since the proteins tighten and squeeze out moisture. Removing the pan from heat once the surface is just set keeps the omelet tender.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Garlicfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, shrimp, cream, pepper, butter. 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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