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Asparagus Omelet

A quick omelet made with eggs, butter, salt, pepper, and cooked asparagus.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and asparagus are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,968 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt and pepper.

  2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

  3. Add the chopped asparagus to the skillet and sauté for a few minutes.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the beaten eggs over the asparagus and cook until set.

  2. Fold the omelet in half and serve hot.

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. Pepper + asparagustop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

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

  2. Egg + asparagustop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,026 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set to form the structure of the omelet as they cook.
Butter
Adds richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Asparagus
Adds texture and a fresh, vegetal flavor to the omelet.

The step that matters

Pour the beaten eggs over the asparagus and cook until set. Cooking over medium heat lets the eggs set gently. High heat toughens the proteins and can brown or scorch the bottom before the top sets, leaving a rubbery texture.

Swap the asparagus

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

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Asparagusthe original
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, 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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