Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Fried Bread, or Sippets Op Bread for Garnishing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the crumb of a stale loaf into slices ¼ inch thick.
Shape the slices into diamonds or other shapes using a pastry cutter.
Fry and finish
Fry the shaped bread in fresh butter until pale brown and deeper brown.
Dry the fried bread well.
Brush a little flour and egg white on the side that will touch the dish.
Let it dry before serving.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Stale loaf
- Its dry, firm crumb holds its shape when cut and fried, giving crisp edges.
- Fresh butter
- Fat carries heat into the bread, promoting even browning and a rich flavour.
- Flour
- A thin dusting of flour helps the coating set and adhere to the dish surface.
- Egg white
- Its proteins set when dried, forming a light film that helps the bread stick to the dish.
The step that matters
Dry the fried bread well. Residual moisture left in the fried bread turns it soft and steamy, so it loses crispness. Thorough drying lets the surface stay crisp once served.
“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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