Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Bread Omelette
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, mix the flour with a little milk until smooth.
In another bowl, beat the eggs and add the salt and remaining milk.
Fry the bread
Slice the roll and fry the slices in butter until golden.
Place the fried roll slices on a dish and sprinkle raisins on top.
Bake
Pour the egg and milk mixture over the roll slices.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until set.
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.
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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
- Set the custard as they cook, giving the omelette its structure and body.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk mixture so it holds together and stays smooth.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, keeping the eggs moist and tender.
- Roll
- Soaks up the egg mixture and forms the bulk of the dish.
- Butter
- Fries the bread slices, adding richness and golden browning.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Egg proteins coagulate as they heat, so the custard firms into a sliceable texture. Underbaking leaves it runny, while overbaking can make the eggs dry and rubbery.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, egg, butter):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, egg, 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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