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Omelette with Herbs

A quick omelette flavored with chives and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Omelette with Herbs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the eggs with water or milk, salt, pepper, chives, and parsley.

  2. Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat until it bubbles but does not brown.

Cook the omelette

  1. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and let it set slightly.

  2. Use a fork to lift the edges, allowing uncooked mixture to flow underneath.

  3. When mostly set, fold the omelette in half to absorb excess liquid while keeping it soft.

  4. Carefully slide the omelette onto a plate.

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 + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Chive + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Pepper + chivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,885 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a tender structure as they cook, forming the body of the omelette.
Butter
Coats the pan so the omelette releases easily and adds richness to the flavor.
Chives
Add a mild onion-like aroma and fresh flavor to the eggs.
Parsley
Adds fresh, green herbal flavor and aroma to the eggs.

The step that matters

Keep the heat moderate and the butter from browning. Eggs cook quickly and turn rubbery or tough at high heat, while browned butter changes the flavor. Gentle heat lets the proteins set softly so the omelette stays tender.

Swap the chive

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

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Chivethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, pepper, parsley, 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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