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Savoury Omelet

A baked omelet made with bread crumbs, herbs, tapioca, onions, eggs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Savoury Omelet

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Rub the butter into the bread crumbs.

  2. Add the chopped herbs and dry mustard.

  3. Soak the tapioca in ½ cup cold water for 10 minutes.

  4. Mix the soaked tapioca with the finely chopped onions and bread crumbs.

  5. Season with pepper and salt.

  6. Combine with the beaten yolks of 6 eggs and 1 egg white.

Bake and shape

  1. Melt some butter in a dish and pour in the mixture.

  2. Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) for 10–15 minutes until it sets slightly.

  3. Scoop out the center, leaving about 1 inch around the sides and bottom.

  4. Beat the remaining egg whites with a tablespoon of fine bread crumbs and a little salt.

  5. Fill the scooped-out center with the egg white mixture.

  6. Return the scooped-out omelet to the sides, avoiding the egg whites.

  7. Bake until golden brown.

Serve

  1. Let it stand for a few minutes, then turn it out onto a hot dish and serve with mint sauce and brown sauce.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Sage + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together507 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread crumbs
Form the bulk of the filling and absorb moisture, giving the omelet its body.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set on baking, giving the omelet its structure.
Tapioca
Absorbs water and thickens the mixture so it holds together when baked.
Onion
Adds savory flavor and moisture to the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the crumbs brown during baking.

The step that matters

Returning the scooped-out omelet to the sides. The egg white filling must stay in the center so it cooks into a light layer rather than mixing with the outer shell. Keeping the whites apart preserves the contrast in texture between the set shell and the airy center.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, parsley, lemon, thyme, sage, marjoram, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, parsley, lemon, thyme, sage, marjoram, 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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