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Cheese Omelet

A quick omelet made with eggs, butter, cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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

  1. Melt the butter in a 7‑inch omelet pan over medium heat.

  2. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them lightly until yolks and whites are mixed.

  3. Add most of the cheese, salt, and cayenne to the eggs, reserving some cheese for topping.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the egg mixture into the hot pan and let the bottom set.

  2. Lift the edges to allow uncooked egg to flow underneath until fully set.

  3. Sprinkle the reserved cheese on top before serving.

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 + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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
Provide the structure that sets into the body of the omelette when heated.
Butter
Adds richness and helps prevent the eggs from sticking to the pan.
Cheese
Adds savory flavor and a rich, melting texture to the eggs.

The step that matters

Lift the edges to let uncooked egg flow underneath. Eggs set quickly when heated, so letting liquid egg flow to the pan keeps the omelette tender and prevents a dry, rubbery texture from overcooking.

“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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