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Tomato Omelet

A savory omelet folded around sautéed tomatoes, peppers, onions, and mushrooms.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Tomato Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan.

  2. Cook 1 tablespoon of finely chopped onion and the chopped pepper in the butter until softened.

  3. Add 1 cup of tomatoes and cook until the mixture has evaporated.

  4. Stir in 1 tablespoon of sliced cooked mushrooms, ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt, and a little black pepper.

Cook the omelet

  1. In a bowl, beat 4 eggs and mix in 4 tablespoons of milk, along with a little salt and pepper.

  2. In an omelet pan, melt 1 tablespoon of butter and pour in the egg mixture.

  3. Cook until set, then surround with the tomato mixture.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Tomato + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,719 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  5. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

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, holding the filling together.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor, and keeps the vegetables and eggs from sticking to the pan.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity, forming the sauce that surrounds the omelet.
Milk
Dilutes the eggs slightly, producing a softer, more tender texture.
Mushrooms
Add earthy flavor and bulk to the filling.

The step that matters

Cook until set, then surround with the tomato mixture.. Eggs cooked over high heat or too long turn tough and rubbery as proteins tighten and squeeze out water. Cook gently just until the surface is set, while the top remains slightly moist.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, tomato, mushroom, egg, milk):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, tomato, mushroom, egg, milk. 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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