Why it works: Sugar and rum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,908 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Rum Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, beat the egg whites and yolks together until well combined.
Cook the omelet in a frying pan over medium heat until set.
Sprinkle sugar over the cooked omelet.
Pour hot rum over the omelet and carefully set it alight as you serve.
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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Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,908 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + rumtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,589 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
- Egg whites
- Beaten whites trap air and give the omelet a light, airy structure as the proteins set.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and fat, and their proteins help bind and set the omelet.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the richness of the eggs and the bite of the rum.
- Rum
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavour, and its alcohol vapour ignites to give a brief flame.
The step that matters
Pour and set alight carefully. Alcohol vapour above hot rum is what ignites, so the rum must be warm and poured onto the omelet away from the pan's heat source. Keep the flame brief and controlled, and keep the rum bottle and your hands clear of the fire.
“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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