Name: Omelet, with Fine Herbs
Ingredients: 4 large eggs; 2 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons mixed fine herbs (such as parsley, chives, and tarragon); Salt and pepper to taste

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 ↓

Omelet, with Fine Herbs

Ingredients

4 large eggs
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons mixed fine herbs (such as parsley, chives, and tarragon)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Prepare

In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt and pepper until well mixed.
Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat.

Cook and serve

Pour the eggs into the skillet and cook until the edges begin to set.
Sprinkle the herbs over the eggs and fold the omelet in half.
Cook for another minute until fully set, then 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.

Parsley + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,563 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Chive + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together589 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,150 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Tarragon + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,399 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Set into a tender structure that forms the body of the omelet.
Butter: Adds richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Mixed fine herbs: Add aroma and fresh flavor to the eggs.

The step that matters

Cook the eggs over medium heat until the edges just set. Egg proteins set quickly at higher heat, so cooking gently keeps the omelet tender and prevents rubbery or browned edges. Folding before the centre is fully set lets residual heat finish cooking it.

Swap the chive

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

Shallotfits about as well
Chivethe original
Asparagusfits less well
Carrotfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, parsley, 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.

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Omelet, with Fine Herbs