Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Egg Nest
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Toast a slice of bread for each person to be served.
Beat the white of one egg very stiff for each slice.
Assemble and bake
Pile this on top of the toast.
Make a little depression in the center of each in which to drop a bit of butter and the unbeaten yolk of an egg and a pinch of salt and pepper if liked.
Place the slices in the oven till sufficiently cooked.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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.
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.
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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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that sets into a light, airy nest around the yolk.
- Egg yolk
- Stays runny in the center while the surrounding white cooks, adding richness.
- Bread
- Provides a sturdy base that holds the whipped white and browns in the oven.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds fat for richness and helps the toast brown and taste savory.
The step that matters
Beat the whites very stiff. Stiffly beaten whites trap air and hold their shape in the oven. If they are underbeaten, they slump and spread over the toast instead of forming a nest around the yolk.
“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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