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Omelettes, and Various Ways of Dressing Eggs

A lightly cooked omelette flavored with herbs and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Omelettes, and Various Ways of Dressing Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs with a pinch of salt until well combined.

  2. Heat the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until melted.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the eggs into the skillet and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the eggs are just set but still moist.

  2. Sprinkle the chopped herbs over the omelette before folding it in half.

  3. Serve immediately, ensuring the omelette is not overcooked.

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.

  1. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a delicate structure as they cook, forming the body of the omelette.
Butter
Coats the pan so the eggs release cleanly and add richness and flavour.
Fresh herbs
Add aroma and a fresh, green flavour to the eggs.

The step that matters

Cook gently until just set but still moist. Egg proteins tighten as they heat, and past that point they squeeze out water and turn dry and rubbery. Removing the omelette while it is still moist keeps it tender, and it keeps cooking briefly off the heat.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Capersfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against 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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