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Egg Appetizer

A poached egg served on lettuce with tomato, mayonnaise, caviar, and reception flakes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Lettuce and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,655 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Egg Appetizer

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Poach the eggs until firm but not too hard.

  2. Place a lettuce leaf on a plate.

  3. Add a large slice of tomato on top of the lettuce.

  4. Place the poached egg on the tomato.

  5. Pour a spoonful of mayonnaise over the egg.

  6. Add ½ teaspoon of caviar in the center.

  7. Serve with reception flakes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Lettuce + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Egg + caviartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together101 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Lettuce + caviartop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Egg + lettucetop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Tomato + caviartop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Poached whites set into a tender shape, while the yolk stays soft and rich in the centre.
Lettuce leaves
Provide a crisp, fresh base that cushions the egg and tomato.
Large tomatoes
Add juicy moisture and a touch of acidity that balances the rich egg.
Mayonnaise
Adds fat and creaminess that coat the egg and add richness.

The step that matters

Poach the eggs until firm but not too hard. Egg whites set at moderate heat, while overcooked proteins in the white and yolk become rubbery and dry. Stopping while the yolk is still soft keeps the texture tender and the centre runny when cut.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, lettuce, caviar):

  1. Cucumberfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, lettuce, caviar. 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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