Why it works: Butter and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Break the eggs into a dish and beat them lightly with a little minced parsley and salt.
Cook the omelet
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook until the edges are set.
Fold the omelet in half and remove it from the pan.
Fill and serve
Warm the minced meat in a separate dish with a little butter.
Add the warmed meat to the omelet.
Serve immediately.
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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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + meattop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Parsley + meattop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,040 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 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 the structure of the omelet as they cook, forming its body.
- Butter
- Coats the pan so the eggs release cleanly and add richness.
- Minced meat
- Adds savory filling and substance to the folded omelet.
The step that matters
Cook until the edges are set. Eggs set from the edges inward as proteins coagulate with heat. Cooking too long or on high heat makes the omelet tough and dry, so pull it while the centre is still slightly moist.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, meat):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, meat. 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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