Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Scotch Woodcock
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the spread
Mix the mashed chicken livers, anchovy paste, butter, 1 egg yolk, salt, and cayenne pepper.
Spread the mixture on toast and place in the oven at 400°F (200°C).
Make the sauce and serve
In a double boiler, slightly stir 2 egg yolks with 1 cup of cream, and cook together.
Pour the sauce over the spread toast 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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Anchovy + eggtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Liver + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together199 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Anchovy + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together798 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken livers
- Provide the rich, savory body of the spread once mashed.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream sauce as they cook gently and set.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and a smooth, silky texture to the sauce.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds a deep, salty, savory note that sharpens the flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, spreadable texture.
The step that matters
Cooking the egg yolk and cream sauce in a double boiler. Egg yolks scramble if heated too fast. Gentle, indirect heat lets them thicken smoothly as the proteins set slowly, giving a silky sauce rather than a grainy one.
“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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