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Omelet with Ham

A simple omelet folded over chopped ham, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,526 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Omelet with Ham

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the eggs in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

  2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the eggs into the skillet and cook until the edges begin to set.

  2. Sprinkle the chopped ham over one half of the omelet.

  3. Carefully fold the other half over the ham and cook for another minute.

  4. Slide the omelet onto a plate and garnish with small slices of ham.

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. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

  2. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

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

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
Set into the structure of the omelet as they cook, holding the filling together.
Ham
Adds savoury flavour and salty, meaty contrast to the mild eggs.

The step that matters

Folding the omelet over the ham. Eggs continue to set from residual heat, so folding while the top is still very wet can tear the omelet. Waiting until the edges are set gives a sturdier fold that keeps the filling inside.

“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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