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French Omelet with Cheese

A French omelette folded with cheese, cooked slowly over low heat and browned on top.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

French Omelet with Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggs

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs and mix in the water, pepper, and salt.

  2. Whip the egg whites to a stiff froth and gently fold them into the yolk mixture.

Cook the omelet

  1. Heat the butter in an omelet pan until boiling hot.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook over low heat.

  3. Use a heated salamander or coal-shovel to brown the top of the omelet.

  4. When the omelet has risen, sprinkle the cheese on top.

  5. Cook a little longer until the top is still creamy, then fold and serve immediately.

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. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

  5. Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whipped whites trap air for a light, risen structure, while the yolks add richness and set into a tender body.
Butter
Heated in the pan, it coats the surface to prevent sticking and adds richness and flavor.
Grated cheese
Melts into the omelet and adds savory flavor and richness on top.

The step that matters

Folding the whites into the yolk mixture. Whites hold air only when whipped to a stiff froth. Folding gently keeps that air in the batter, so the omelet rises instead of deflating.

“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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