Why it works: Egg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,587 recipes. The science ↓
Cupped Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Put a spoonful of high-seasoned brown gravy into each cup.
Set the cups into a saucepan of boiling water.
Cook the eggs
When the gravy heats, drop a fresh egg into each cup.
Remove the saucepan and cover it tightly until the eggs are tenderly cooked.
Finish and serve
Dredge the eggs with a fine dusting of mace or nutmeg and coarse sea salt.
Serve on a hot plate, covered with a napkin.
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.
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Egg + macetop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,587 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh eggs
- Set to a tender texture as they cook in the warm gravy, forming the dish's main body.
- High-seasoned brown gravy
- Provides moisture and savory flavor, and gently warms the egg from below.
- Mace or nutmeg
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice note that complements the savory gravy and eggs.
The step that matters
Remove the saucepan and cover it tightly until the eggs are tenderly cooked.. Egg proteins set gradually at gentle heat, so removing the pan from boiling water and holding it covered lets residual heat finish cooking without making the eggs rubbery.
“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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