Why it works: Egg and anchovy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,330 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Eggs, Scrambled
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the eggs
Heat a well-oiled pan with butter.
Crack as many eggs as the pan can hold, keeping yolks intact.
When the whites are slightly firm, stir from the bottom until cooked.
Add a piece of butter, pepper, and salt while stirring.
Ensure yolks and whites remain separate streaks.
Serve
Serve on hot buttered toast with your choice of spread.
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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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + anchovytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into soft curds that form the body of the dish.
- Butter
- Coats the pan to prevent sticking and adds richness and flavour to the eggs.
The step that matters
Stirring from the bottom once the whites are slightly firm. Eggs cook quickly once the whites begin to set. Stirring from the bottom lifts and folds the curds gently, so they stay soft and moist rather than becoming dry or rubbery from overcooking.
“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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