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Eggs in Mustard

Hard‑boiled eggs served on lettuce with a mustard‑mayonnaise sauce or a cheese‑cream sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,356 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Eggs in Mustard

1 egg per person

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Butter timbale forms and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

  2. Carefully drop an egg into each mould without breaking it.

  3. Sprinkle eggs with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

Cook and serve

  1. Place moulds in a pan with boiling water and steam until eggs are hard.

  2. Once cold, turn out the eggs and serve each on a leaf of lettuce.

  3. Pour mayonnaise mixed with German mustard over the eggs.

  4. Alternatively, serve hot on lettuce with a cream sauce flavored with cheese.

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. Mustard + lettucetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,356 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Parsley + lettucetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,483 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Parsley + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,588 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a firm, sliceable texture when steamed in the moulds.
Butter
Coats the moulds so the set eggs release cleanly and gain a rich flavor.
Mayonnaise
Adds creamy fat and body to the mustard topping.
German mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts the richness of the eggs and mayonnaise.
Cream
Makes a smooth, rich sauce for the hot-serving option.

The step that matters

Steam until eggs are hard. Steam heat sets the egg white and yolk gradually; too little time leaves the yolk runny, while overcooking makes the texture rubbery and dry.

Swap the lettuce

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, parsley, pepper, butter, mustard, cream, cheese):

  1. Chivefits about as well
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Lettucethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, parsley, pepper, butter, mustard, cream, cheese. 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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