Name: Eggs a LA Maitre D'hotel
Ingredients: one tablespoonful of flour; one tablespoonful of minced parsley; a pound of fresh butter; a pint of milk; a teaspoonful of onion juice; a teaspoonful of white pepper; eight hard boiled eggs; parsley; white pepper; salt; pepper

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Flour: Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth, cohesive sauce.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky, creamy mouthfeel to the sauce.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the sauce.
Eggs: Form the main body of the dish, adding substance and mild richness.
Parsley: Adds fresh, herbal aroma and flavour to the sauce.

The step that matters

Thickening the flour and butter before adding the milk. Flour must be stirred over heat until the mixture thickens so its starch is cooked and spread evenly. If the roux is undercooked or the milk is added carelessly, the sauce can turn lumpy and taste raw.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, parsley, butter, milk, onion, egg, pepper):

Thymefits better
Nutmegfits better
Capersfits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, parsley, butter, milk, onion, egg, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Eggs a LA Maitre D'hotel