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Breakfast

A breakfast plate of bacon, egg, asparagus, potato, butter, cream, and tea.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 217 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Breakfast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cook the bacon until crispy.

  2. Fry the egg to your liking.

  3. Steam or boil the asparagus until tender.

  4. Boil the potato until soft.

Serve

  1. Serve with butter and cream on the side.

  2. Brew tea to serve hot.

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. Asparagus + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together217 recipes

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Potato + teatop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together136 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  5. Asparagus + teatop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Bacon
Renders fat and browns, adding salty, savoury flavour and crisp texture.
Egg
Sets when cooked, providing structure and richness to the plate.
Asparagus
Softens when steamed or boiled, adding tender texture and a green, vegetal flavour.
Potato
Softens when boiled, adding starchy bulk and a mild, filling base.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour across the dish.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, potato, butter, cream, tea):

  1. Asparagusthe original
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Onionfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, potato, butter, cream, tea. 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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