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Omelet-pan

A quick omelet cooked in butter with bacon or ham, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Why it works: Butter and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Omelet-pan

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

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

  2. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the eggs into the pan and shake it gently.

  2. After 3-4 minutes, fold the sides of the omelet over the filling.

  3. Turn the omelet out onto a hot dish or lift it with a flat spoon.

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 + hamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

  5. Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,058 recipes

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

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 omelet.
Butter
Adds fat for richer flavor and keeps the eggs from sticking to the pan.
Bacon or ham
Adds savory flavor and chew as the filling folded into the omelet.

The step that matters

Pour the eggs into the pan and shake it gently. Gentle shaking keeps the egg layer spreading evenly so it sets into a thin, tender sheet. Overcooking or stirring hard can toughen the proteins and make the omelet dry or rubbery.

“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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