Name: Creamed Eggs
Ingredients: 6 eggs; 1 pint cream sauce; 6 slices of toast; parsley for garnish

Why it works: Cream and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Creamed Eggs

Ingredients

6 eggs
1 pint cream sauce
6 slices of toast
parsley for garnish

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

Boil the eggs for 20 minutes.
Prepare 1 pint of cream sauce.

Assemble and bake

Place the toast on a hot dish and add a layer of sauce on each slice.
Cut the egg whites into thin strips and place on the sauce.
Rub some of the yolks through a sieve onto the toast.
Repeat the layering process and finish with a third layer of sauce.
Place in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 3 minutes.
Garnish with parsley and serve.

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.

Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,787 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,765 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sauce + parsleytop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,693 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + parsleytop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,392 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Egg whites give structure in strips, while sieved yolks add richness and a soft texture.
Cream sauce: Provides moisture and richness, soaking into the toast and binding the layers together.
Toast: Forms the sturdy base that holds the sauce and egg layers.