Name: Savoury Souffle Omelet
Ingredients: 3 egg yolks; 3 egg whites; 1 teaspoon chopped parsley; ½ teaspoon chopped shallots; ¼ teaspoon dried savoury herbs; salt to taste; a pinch of cayenne pepper; grated Parmesan cheese; butter for greasing

Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Savoury Souffle Omelet

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

Separate the egg yolks from the whites.
In a bowl, work the yolks well and add parsley, shallots, and dried herbs.
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gradually mix them with the yolk mixture.
Season with salt and cayenne pepper.

Bake and serve

Grease a gratin dish with butter, pour in the mixture, and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 15 minutes.

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.

Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,737 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,898 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pepper + parmesan cheesetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites: Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air and make the omelet light and puffed.
Egg yolks: Add richness and flavour, and help bind the mixture as it sets.
Parmesan cheese: Melts and browns on top, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.

The step that matters

Gradually mix the whipped whites into the yolks. Folding the whites in gently, a little at a time, keeps the air bubbles intact. Stirring vigorously or dumping them in all at once deflates the foam, so the soufflé omelet rises less and turns dense.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, parsley, pepper, parmesan cheese, butter):

Spinachfits better
Asparagusfits about as well
Chivefits about as well
Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, parsley, pepper, parmesan cheese, 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.