Why it works: Coffee and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,239 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Brown the coffee nicely, avoiding burning or grinding it too fine.
Wet the coffee with the egg white and a little cold water.
Brew and serve
Place the coffee in a coffee boiler and pour on the boiling water.
Boil for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and add a little cold water before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Coffee + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,239 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
- Ground coffee
- Provides the main flavor, and browning it first deepens its aroma.
- Egg white
- Binds fine grounds so they settle, leaving the brewed coffee clearer.
The step that matters
Browning the coffee. Scorched coffee tastes bitter and acrid, and a grind that is too fine over-extracts, adding more bitterness. Browning gently develops aroma without burning the grounds.
“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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