Why it works: Bread and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,260 recipes. Both carry hexanol, which smells green, fruity. The science ↓
Scotch Woodcock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the toast
Spread the buttered side of the toast thickly with anchovy paste and place on a hot dish, covering to keep warm.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, beat the egg yolks and stir in the cream, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sauce thickens.
Serve
Pour the sauce over the prepared toast and serve hot.
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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Bread + anchovytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,260 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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Anchovy + eggtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Anchovy + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together798 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread
- Provides the crisp, buttered base that holds the savoury topping.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds a salty, savoury flavour that gives the dish its character.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they cook, giving it a smooth, creamy texture.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the sauce.
The step that matters
Cooking the sauce over medium heat. Egg yolks can curdle or scramble if overheated. Stirring over moderate heat keeps the mixture smooth as it thickens.
“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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