Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Bloater Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Make the topping
Combine Bloater Paste, Cream or Rich Milk, Anchovy Sauce, Butter, and Cayenne in a small pot.
Place the pot in a saucepan of boiling water.
Stir until the mixture thickens to a custard consistency.
Serve
Spread the mixture on the buttered toast.
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Bloater paste
- Provides the strong, savoury fish flavour that defines the dish.
- Cream or rich milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and helps the mixture thicken into a smooth custard.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a silky texture and a rich mouthfeel.
- Anchovy sauce
- Adds salty, savoury depth that rounds out the fish flavour.
The step that matters
Stirring over gentle heat until custard consistency. Cooking in a water bath keeps the dairy and egg-free mixture gentle. Too much heat can cause it to curdle, separate or scorch, so stir constantly and stop once it coats the spoon.
“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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