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Omelet, Savoury

A quick savory omelet made with eggs, herbs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Omelet, Savoury

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Beat the eggs until light.

  2. Add the cream or milk, parsley, shallot, and herbs, then season with salt and pepper.

Cook and serve

  1. Melt the butter in an omelet pan.

  2. Pour in the egg mixture and stir with a fork until the eggs are almost set.

  3. Quickly draw the omelet towards the handle of the pan to shape it.

  4. Turn it onto a hot dish 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 + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  4. Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a delicate structure that forms the body of the omelet.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and softness, keeping the omelet tender rather than dry.
Butter
Coats the pan to prevent sticking and adds richness and flavour.
Parsley
Contributes fresh, herbal aroma and colour to the omelet.
Shallot or onion
Adds mild aromatic sweetness and savoury depth to the egg mixture.

The step that matters

Stir until almost set, then fold. Eggs cook quickly and turn firm and rubbery if overcooked. Removing the pan while the surface is still slightly moist lets residual heat finish the set, keeping the omelet tender.

Swap the shallot

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

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, parsley, pepper, 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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