Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Shirred Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Place a heavy saucepan on the stove.
Add 1 teaspoon of butter and heat until hot.
Break 2 eggs into the dish.
Cook until the eggs bubble and begin to set.
Serve from the pan on a small plate immediately.
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.
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide the structure and richness that set into the dish as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat that keeps the eggs from sticking and gives a rich flavour.
The step that matters
Cook until the eggs bubble and begin to set. Eggs turn firm and rubbery when overcooked because the proteins tighten too far. Removing them while the whites are just set and the yolks still soft keeps the texture tender and moist.
“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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