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Scrambled Eggs with Variations

A versatile scrambled egg dish with optional meats, vegetables, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Scrambled Eggs with Variations

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggs

  1. In a skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped peppers and cook until softened.

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

  4. Stir in the cooked ingredients of your choice.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and scramble until just set.

  2. Serve hot, garnished with parsley.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Peas + asparagustop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together808 recipes

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

  3. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Asparagus + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together566 recipes

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

  5. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 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
Set into soft curds that form the body of the dish.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and keeps the eggs from sticking to the skillet.
Chopped peppers
Add mild sweetness and crisp-tender texture when softened in the pan.

The step that matters

Scramble until just set. Eggs turn from creamy to dry and rubbery when overcooked, because the proteins tighten and squeeze out moisture. Pulling them off the heat while still glossy lets residual heat finish them gently.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, chicken, ham, peas, asparagus, pepper, bread):

  1. Tarragonfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Celeryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, chicken, ham, peas, asparagus, pepper, bread. 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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