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Cheese Omelette

A baked cheese omelette made with eggs, milk, cheese, breadcrumbs, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Omelette

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.

Make the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Beat the egg yolks well in a bowl.

  3. Stir in the grated cheese and bread crumbs.

  4. Gradually add the butter and milk to prevent lumping.

  5. Season with mustard, pepper, and salt to taste.

Finish and pour

  1. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

  2. Add the baking powder.

Bake

  1. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered baking pan.

  2. Bake until set and golden.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 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
Yolks bind the mixture and set on baking, while beaten whites add structure and lightness.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, and loosens the batter so it bakes tender.
Grated cheese
Adds richness and flavor, and melts to help bind the set custard.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and add body, giving the omelette a softer, more cohesive texture.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping it rise and stay light in the oven.

The step that matters

Fold in the beaten egg whites. Whites hold air that gives the dish lift. Stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, so fold gently with a spatula until just combined.

Swap the mustard

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, milk, cheese, bread, 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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