Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Stuffed Egg Plant
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggplant
Cook eggplant in boiling salted water for fifteen minutes.
Cut off one end and remove the pulp with a spoon.
Make the stuffing
Put 2 tablespoons butter in a pan, then add 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1/2 tablespoon chopped onion, and the chopped pulp; cook five minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, and if necessary moisten with a little stock or water.
Cool slightly and add a beaten egg.
(Optional) Add chopped walnuts or hickory nuts to the stuffing if desired.
Fill and bake
Re-fill eggplant.
Cover with buttered bread crumbs and bake for thirty minutes in a hot oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| 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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,676 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggplant (in the method)
- Its soft pulp forms the filling and its shell holds the stuffing while baking.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture from the pulp and give the stuffing body, and brown on top.
- Egg (in the method)
- Binds the stuffing so it holds its shape when sliced and served.
- Butter
- Adds fat for flavour and helps the crumb topping brown.
- Onion
- Adds aromatic flavour to the stuffing as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cool the stuffing slightly before adding the beaten egg. A very hot mixture cooks the egg on contact, causing it to scramble in lumps instead of blending evenly and binding the stuffing.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Potatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, 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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