Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
On the Preparation of Omelettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat them well.
Add salt to taste and mix thoroughly.
Cook the omelette
Heat a clean frying pan over medium heat and add the butter.
Once the butter is melted and bubbling, pour in the egg mixture.
Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the edges are set, then fold the omelette in half and serve.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Set into a tender structure when heated, forming the body of the omelette.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and keeps the eggs from sticking to the pan.
The step that matters
Cook over medium heat until the edges are just set. Eggs turn firm and rubbery when overcooked. Gentle heat lets the proteins set slowly, so the omelette stays tender and the centre remains soft.
“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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