Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,923 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Eggs Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut hard boiled eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolks.
Pass the yolks through a sieve.
Mix the sieved yolks with an equal measure of fine chopped ham, using butter or sauce to hold the mixture together.
Season the mixture with coarse sea salt, cayenne pepper, and mustard.
Shape the mixture and fill the egg halves with it.
Fit the halves back together.
Bake and serve
Place the filled eggs in a buttered baking dish.
Cover the eggs with tomato sauce.
Cover the eggs with buttered breadcrumbs.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the crumbs are browned.
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.
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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + tomatotop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,482 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Ham + mustardtop 14% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together747 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hard boiled eggs
- Provide the white shell that holds the yolk filling and the body of the dish.
- Fine chopped ham
- Adds savoury, salty flavour and a firmer texture to the yolk mixture.
- Butter or sauce
- Adds fat and moisture so the yolk and ham mixture holds together.
- Tomato sauce
- Adds moisture and acidity over the eggs as they bake.
- Buttered breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, browned topping during baking through butter and dry crumbs.
The step that matters
Bake until the crumbs are browned. Baking at the stated heat drives browning of the buttered crumbs, which needs enough time for a golden crust. Stopping too early leaves the topping pale and soft.
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, ham, butter, pepper, mustard, sauce):
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Horseradishbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, ham, butter, pepper, mustard, sauce. 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.
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