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Fish Omelet

A savory omelet made with flaked fish, mashed potatoes, butter, milk, and egg yolk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Fish Omelet

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix the flaked fish, melted butter, mashed potatoes, milk, and beaten egg yolk.

  2. Season the mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook

  1. Heat the drippings in an omelet pan over medium heat.

  2. Pour the fish mixture into the pan and cook until set, then fold and serve.

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

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

  2. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  4. Fish + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,488 recipes

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

  5. Fish + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolk
Binds the mixture and adds richness, helping it set into a tender omelet.
Mashed potatoes
Adds body and moisture, giving the omelet a soft, tender texture.
Milk
Adds moisture, keeping the omelet soft rather than dry as it cooks.
Cooked fish
Provides the main flavor and protein, forming the body of the omelet.
Drippings
Fat for the pan that adds savory flavor and helps prevent sticking and browning.

The step that matters

Cooking the mixture until set. Cooking over medium heat until just set keeps the egg yolk tender; too much heat toughens the egg and dries the omelet.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits less well
  4. Chivefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against fish, butter, milk, egg, 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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