Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Poached Eggs
six personsIngredients
Directions
Prepare
Gather six eggs, one tablespoon milk, one saltspoon salt, a speck of pepper, and one-half teaspoon butter per egg.
Break the eggs into a bowl, add the seasoning but do not beat.
Cook and serve
When the milk begins to boil, pour the eggs and seasoning in.
Do not stir; as the egg cooks, scrape gently from the bottom of the dish, drawing the cooked mass to one side.
Remove from fire before it is quite firm through, turn into a hot dish and serve quickly.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| 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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 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
- Eggs
- Set into a soft, tender mass as they cook, forming the body of the dish.
- Milk
- Provides moisture and a gentler, creamier texture around the coagulating egg.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the eggs a softer, more delicate mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Remove from fire before the eggs are quite firm. Egg proteins keep setting from residual heat after they leave the pan. Removing them while still slightly soft prevents overcooking, which would make them dry, rubbery and grainy.
“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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