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Omelette Aux Rognons, Sauce Tomate

A French omelette containing cooked kidneys, topped with tomato sauce and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Omelette Aux Rognons, Sauce Tomate

Ingredients

Directions

Make the omelette

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

  2. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

  3. Pour in the eggs and cook until set but still slightly runny on top.

  4. Place the stewed kidneys in the center of the omelet.

  5. Fold the omelet over the kidneys and slide onto a plate.

Finish and serve

  1. Pour the tomato sauce and any remaining kidney gravy over the omelet.

  2. Add more wine if needed 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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Tomato + winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,759 recipes

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

  3. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  4. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,469 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
Set to form the omelette's structure while staying tender and slightly moist.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps prevent the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Kidneys
Provide the savory, meaty filling that the omelette is folded around.
Tomato sauce
Adds acidity and moisture to balance the rich eggs and kidneys.
Wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the sauce and gravy.

The step that matters

Cook the eggs until just set but still slightly runny on top. Eggs proteins set as they heat, and overcooking squeezes out moisture and makes them dry and rubbery. Stopping while the top is still slightly wet lets carryover heat finish the set and keeps the omelette tender when folded.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sauce, wine, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Shallotfits about as well
  3. Tomatothe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sauce, wine, pepper. 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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