Skip to main content
Main

Omelets, with Asparagus, Bacon, Fines Herbes, Ham, Kidney, Mushrooms, Au Naturel, with Sorrel, Truffles, or a LA Washington

A fluffy omelet folded over asparagus, bacon, and fines herbes, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Parsley and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,563 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Omelets, with Asparagus, Bacon, Fines Herbes, Ham, Kidney, Mushrooms, Au Naturel, with Sorrel, Truffles, or a LA Washington

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, salt, and pepper.

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

Cook and serve

  1. Pour in the egg mixture and cook until edges begin to set.

  2. Add asparagus, bacon, and fines herbes on one half of the omelet. Fold the omelet in half and cook until fully set.

  3. 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. Parsley + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Chive + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together589 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Asparagus + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together138 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Asparagus + chivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together165 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set to form the structure of the omelet as they cook.
Milk
Adds moisture so the omelet stays tender rather than dry.
Butter
Adds fat for flavor and keeps the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Asparagus
Adds tender texture and fresh, vegetal flavor to the filling.
Bacon
Adds salty, savory flavor and a chewy contrast to the eggs.

The step that matters

Cook until edges begin to set, then fold. Eggs set quickly over medium heat, so leaving the omelet too long before folding can make it tough and dry. Folding once the edges are set but the center is still slightly soft keeps the filling moist.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, butter, parsley, chive, tarragon, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits about as well
  3. Asparagusthe original
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, butter, parsley, chive, tarragon, pepper. 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.

You might also like

Asparagus SoupAsparagus Soup179 recipesAsparagus SaladAsparagus Salad77 recipesCream of AsparagusCream of Asparagus38 recipesBoiled AsparagusBoiled Asparagus27 recipes