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Orleans Omelet

A French bean and egg omelette seasoned with Parmesan, pepper, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Orleans Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and whites together until well mixed.

  2. Stir in the French beans, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and salt.

Cook and serve

  1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook until set, then fold and serve.

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 + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,733 recipes

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

  3. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Beans + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together219 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Add richness and fat, giving the omelette a tender, creamy texture.
Egg whites
Provide structure as they set, giving the omelette its body and lift.
Butter
Coats the pan and adds fat for flavour and gentle browning.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savoury, salty flavour and a little browning as it heats.
French beans
Add texture and a mild vegetable flavour to the filling.

The step that matters

Cooking the egg mixture until set. Eggs turn from liquid to firm as their proteins coagulate with heat. Cooking over medium heat until just set keeps the omelette tender, while high heat toughens and dries it.

Swap the beans

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

  1. Walnutfits better
  2. Peasfits about as well
  3. Beansthe original
  4. Pecansfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, parmesan cheese, 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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