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Omelette a LA Francaise

A French omelette made with eggs, white pepper, salt, onion, parsley, cold water, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,843 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Omelette a LA Francaise

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggs

  1. Strain the eggs into a bowl.

  2. Season the eggs with white pepper, salt, onion, and parsley.

  3. Add cold water and mix well.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat butter in a frying pan until boiling hot.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the pan.

  3. Stir with a fork until it firms up.

  4. Turn the omelet at each end to shape it into a square or oblong.

  5. Serve hot.

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. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  2. White pepper + parsleytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  3. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Provide the main structure, as their proteins set when heated into a tender body.
Cold water
Adds moisture, so the eggs stay tender and less dense as they cook.
Butter
Adds fat and flavor, and helps keep the omelet from sticking to the pan.
Onion
Adds savory aroma and a little sweetness as it mingles with the eggs.
Parsley
Adds fresh, green aroma and a bit of color.

The step that matters

Stir with a fork until it firms up. Stirring breaks the setting egg into small, soft curds that keep the omelet tender. Leaving it still or overcooking it makes the eggs tough and rubbery, so remove it from heat while the surface is still slightly moist.

Swap the white pepper

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

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, onion, 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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