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Asparagus and Eggs

A scrambled egg dish with asparagus served on toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and asparagus are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,968 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus and Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the eggs well with pepper and salt.

  2. Cut the dressed asparagus into pieces the size of peas and stir into the eggs.

  3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour in the egg and asparagus mixture, stirring until it thickens.

  2. Serve hot on toast.

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 + asparagustop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

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

  2. Egg + asparagustop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,338 recipes

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

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,026 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 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

Eggs
Set into soft curds that give the scramble its body and structure.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, keeping the eggs tender and preventing them from sticking.
Asparagus
Adds a fresh, green vegetable flavour and a bit of texture to the eggs.

The step that matters

Pour in the egg and asparagus mixture, stirring until it thickens. Egg proteins set with heat, so cooking too fast or too long turns the eggs rubbery and dry. Stirring gently over moderate heat keeps the curds soft and creamy.

Swap the asparagus

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

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Asparagusthe original
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, butter. 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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