Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓
Scotch Egg
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the egg
Grease a small mold with butter and sprinkle with parsley and seasoning.
Crack the egg into the mold.
Place the mold in a pan of hot water until the egg sets.
Assemble and serve
Cut the toasted bread into a shape using a cake cutter.
Place the set egg in the center of the toast.
Serve hot.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Parsley + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Sets into a firm, sliceable centre that holds the dish together.
- Bread
- Provides a crisp, toasted base that supports the set egg.
The step that matters
Placing the mold in hot water until the egg sets. Egg proteins set gradually as they warm. Water that is too hot or heated too fast can toughen or curdle the egg, while too gentle heat leaves it runny. Checking that the white is opaque and the yolk is only partly firm helps get a tender set.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, butter, bread):
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Sagefits less well
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, butter, 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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