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Omelet, with Fine Herbs

A quick omelet flavored with fresh herbs, salt, pepper, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Omelet, with Fine Herbs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt and pepper until well mixed.

  2. Chop the fresh herbs and stir them into the egg mixture.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat until melted.

  2. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook until the edges begin to set.

  3. Gently lift the edges with a spatula, allowing uncooked eggs to flow underneath.

  4. When the omelet is mostly set but still slightly runny on top, fold it in half 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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

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

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

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

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 as they cook, forming the body of the omelet.
Butter
Adds richness and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Fresh herbs
Add aroma and a fresh, green flavor to the eggs.

The step that matters

Lifting the edges while the eggs set. Eggs cook quickly over medium heat. Lifting the set edges lets liquid egg flow underneath, producing a tender, evenly cooked omelet. Folding too late leaves it dry and rubbery.

“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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