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The Cure’s Omelette

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

The Cure’s Omelette

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Break 4 whole eggs and add the yolks of 2 more into a bowl.

  2. Mix the eggs thoroughly with two forks without beating them.

  3. Add ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon minced shallot, 1 tablespoon minced parsley, and 1 tablespoon cream to the egg mixture.

  4. Stir the mixture until well combined.

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. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Egg + shallottop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,380 recipes

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

  5. Shallot + creamtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together789 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Swap the shallot

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

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, parsley, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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