Name: Croutes a LA Londres
Ingredients: 6 croûtons of fried bread; 1 small lettuce; ½ cup shrimp; ⅓ cup anchovy cream; ⅓ cup chopped aspic jelly; salad oil; vinegar; pepper; coarse sea salt

Why it works: Bread and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,257 recipes mention both. Both carry hexanol, which smells green, fruity. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat, fish, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare

Shred the lettuce and toss it with salad oil, vinegar, pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Place a little of the lettuce mixture on each croûton.
Arrange the shrimp on top of the lettuce.

Garnish and serve

Garnish with anchovy cream and chopped aspic jelly using a piping bag.
Serve as a luncheon dish or dinner savory.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Bread + anchovytop 4% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together1,257 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
Shrimp + anchovytop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together432 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
Lettuce + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together4,037 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Vinegar + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together27,805 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Lettuce + anchovytop 7% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together185 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Fried bread croûtons: Provides a crisp base that holds the lettuce and shrimp.
Lettuce: Adds a fresh, crisp texture that contrasts with the fried base.
Shrimp: Supplies the main savory seafood flavour on top of the salad.
Anchovy cream: Adds salty, savory richness that seasons the dish.
Aspic jelly: Adds a glossy, savory gel that adds moisture and a bit of body.

Flavor stand-ins for the lettuce

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, shrimp, anchovy, cream, vinegar, pepper):

Capsicumbetter flavor fit
Tomatobetter flavor fit
Potatobetter flavor fit
Lettucethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, shrimp, anchovy, cream, vinegar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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.