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 ↓
Escalloped Egg Plant
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggplant
Boil a small egg plant.
Cut it in half.
Take out the pulp, throwing away the seeds and skin.
Chop the pulp finely.
Make the filling
Mix the pulp with half a teaspoonful of bread crumbs, one cup of cream or rich milk, butter the size of an egg, an even teaspoonful of finely minced parsley, pepper and salt to taste, and a few drops of onion juice. Beat all together.
Turn into a baking dish.
Cover the top with dried bread crumbs and tiny bits of butter and bake until brown.
Serve
Serve in the dish in which it is baked.
If any is left over, cut in slices half an inch thick and fry in butter for luncheon.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| 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.
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggplant pulp (in the method)
- Forms the bulk of the dish and gives it its soft, spoonable body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, helping the filling stay soft and creamy when baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up liquid in the filling and form a browned crust on top.
The step that matters
Bake until brown. The crumb and butter topping browns through dry heat, but baking too long can dry out the custard-like filling. Watch the colour rather than just the clock.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, bread, butter, egg, pepper):
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits less well
- Sagefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against cream, bread, butter, 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.
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