Name: Chicken Ramekins
Ingredients: a gill of cream; two eggs; salt; pepper

Why it works: Cream and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Chicken Ramekins

Ingredients

a gill of cream
two eggs
salt
pepper

Directions

Make the custard

Chop the white meat of a raw fowl finely.
Add a bit of soda size of a pea to a gill of cream.
Put this over the fire.
As it heats, add the chicken meat.
Cook for a minute.
Remove and cool.
Add the beaten yolks of two eggs.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bake and serve

Fold in the whites of the eggs.
Turn into buttered ramekin dishes and brown.
Serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

135Calories

7 gProtein

11 gFat

2 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together21,449 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together50,580 recipes

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

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Yolks thicken the mixture and whites lighten it so it rises and sets softly.
Cream: Provides moisture and richness, giving the custard a smooth, tender texture.
Chicken (in the method): Supplies the main body of the filling, which sets into the custard.

“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.