Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cheese Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Beat the eggs slightly in a bowl.
Add ½ teaspoon of melted butter, salt, cayenne, and cheese to the eggs.
Cook and serve
Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook until firm without stirring.
Roll the omelet and sprinkle with additional grated cheese before serving.
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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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + cheesetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,253 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
- Set into the structure of the omelet as they cook and firm up.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, helping the omelet release from the pan and brown lightly.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savory flavor and richness, and melts into the eggs for a creamy filling.
The step that matters
Cook until firm without stirring. Stirring breaks up the forming egg curds, so the omelet cooks unevenly and turns scrambled. Leaving the eggs still lets a thin set layer form, which can then be rolled neatly.
“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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