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Ham Omelet

A baked omelet made with ham, garlic or parsley, eggs, milk, flour, butter, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

Ham Omelet

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Grease a skillet well.

  2. Mince the ham and garlic (or parsley).

  3. Beat the eggs separately.

Make the filling

  1. Mix the minced ham and garlic into the egg yolks.

  2. Heat the milk and thicken it with flour until boiling.

  3. Add butter and salt to the milk mixture and let it cool slightly.

  4. Stir the cooled milk mixture into the yolks and ham.

Bake and serve

  1. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

  2. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 10 minutes.

  3. Serve very 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Garlic + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,149 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg whites add lift and a light, airy structure, while yolks enrich the custard-like filling.
Milk
Heated and thickened with flour, it forms a smooth base that adds moisture and softness.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a sauce that helps hold the omelette together and gives body.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing flavor and a tender texture.
Minced ham
Adds savory flavor and salt-cured taste to the eggs.

The step that matters

Gently fold in the beaten egg whites. Egg whites hold air bubbles that give the omelette its rise. Vigorous stirring deflates them, leaving a dense result, so folding keeps the foam intact.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, egg, milk, flour, butter):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, egg, milk, flour, 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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