Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Scrambled Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the eggs with pepper, coarse sea salt, parsley, and chives.
Melt butter in a saucepan.
Add the beaten eggs to the melted butter.
Stir until the eggs are cooked to your liking.
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.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,150 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Pepper + chivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,885 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Chive + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,097 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide the main structure, as their proteins set into soft curds when heated.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor and helps keep the eggs from sticking to the pan.
The step that matters
Stir until the eggs are cooked to your liking. Egg proteins set as they heat, and overheating squeezes out moisture and makes them dry and rubbery. Stirring over moderate heat and removing the pan while the eggs still look slightly glossy keeps them tender.
Swap the chive
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, parsley, butter):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivethe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, parsley, butter. 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.
More scrambled eggs recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.