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Egg Plant Au Gratin

A baked dish of boiled eggplants mixed with bread crumbs, salt pork, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Egg Plant Au Gratin

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Boil 2 eggplants for 20 minutes.

  2. Cut lengthwise, scoop out the center, mash, and mix with ½ cup bread crumbs, ½ teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon vinegar, 1 teaspoon onion juice, salt and pepper to taste, ¾ cup finely chopped salt pork, and 1 tgg.

  3. Add 2 tablespoons melted butter to the mixture, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

Bake

  1. Pour into a baking dish, cover lightly with bread crumbs and small bits of butter, and bake slowly for 1 hour.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

934Calories
48 gProtein
32 gFat
108 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 10 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Plantnot in our table0

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

By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. 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.

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. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  4. Onion + porktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

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

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggplant (in the method)
Forms the bulk of the filling and gives a soft, moist base once cooked.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help bind the mashed filling, and form a crisp topping.
Egg
Binds the filling so it sets firm when baked.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor that carries through the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the top brown during baking.

The step that matters

Cook the mixture while stirring constantly. Stirring keeps the mashed eggplant and fat from scorching on the bottom of the pan and helps the filling cook evenly before baking.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, vinegar, pork, butter, egg, thyme, pepper. 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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