Why it works: Parmesan cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,163 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Cheese Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk until well mixed.
Add pepper, salt, and cheese to the eggs.
Cook and serve
Melt 1 ounce of butter in an omelet pan.
Pour the egg mixture into the pan and stir quickly to prevent sticking.
When the omelet is just set, fold it over towards the handle of the pan and then slide it onto a hot dish.
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.
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Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,163 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,322 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + parmesan cheesetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,368 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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 into the structure of the omelet as they cook, forming its body.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savory flavor and richness, and melts slightly into the eggs.
- Butter
- Greases the pan so the omelet releases cleanly and adds richness.
The step that matters
Stirring the eggs in the pan. Stirring quickly keeps the egg proteins moving so small curds form and the omelet does not stick or scorch on the hot pan. Once the eggs are just set, folding stops further cooking and keeps the omelet tender rather than dry.
“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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