Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Omelette
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks of the eggs well.
Add corn starch and salt dissolved in milk to the yolks and mix well.
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth and gently fold them into the yolk mixture.
Cook and bake
Preheat a skillet with melted butter until hot.
Pour the mixture into the skillet and cook until the bottom is set.
Transfer to a 400°F (200°C) oven and bake until light brown.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whites trapped as a stiff foam give the omelette its light, airy structure, while yolks add richness.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk and yolk mixture slightly, helping the omelette hold together and stay tender.
- Milk
- Adds moisture, which turns to steam in the oven and keeps the omelette soft.
- Butter
- Greases the skillet to prevent sticking and adds richness and browning at the bottom.
The step that matters
Folding the whites into the yolk mixture. Stiff egg whites hold air that makes the omelette rise. Stirring them in vigorously knocks out that air and leaves a dense result, so fold gently and keep the mixture airy.
“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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