Name: For Consomme
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 2 tablespoons milk; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; Butter (for greasing)

Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

For Consomme

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

2 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
Butter (for greasing)

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the custard

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add the milk and salt, and mix well.
Grease a cup with butter and pour in the egg mixture.

Bake and serve

Place the cup in a pan of warm water.
Bake in the oven until the center is firm.
Let it cool, then cut into thin strips or fancy shapes.
Transfer to a tureen.

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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Set into a firm custard as they cook, giving the consommé its structure.
Milk: Adds moisture and softness, keeping the set custard tender rather than rubbery.

The step that matters

Bake in the oven until the center is firm. Egg proteins set at temperatures near 180°F (82°C) and toughen above that. Baking gently in a water bath at a low oven heat keeps the custard smooth and tender, so the center sets without curdling or becoming spongy.

“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.