Why it works: Olive and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,571 recipes. Both carry trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fried Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Fry the eggs
Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
Fry the eggs until cooked to your liking, then transfer to a hot dish.
Cook the mushrooms and serve
In the same pan, add mushrooms and minced chili to the remaining oil.
Cook until the mushrooms are tender.
Pour the mushroom mixture around the eggs 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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Olive + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,571 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Egg + mushroomtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,987 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + olivetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,340 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Their proteins set as they cook, giving the dish its main body and structure.
- Olive oil
- Fat that conducts heat for frying and carries flavor across the pan.
- Mushrooms
- Release moisture as they cook and turn tender, adding savory depth to the sauce.
- Green chili
- Adds sharp aroma and heat that flavor the cooking oil and mushrooms.
The step that matters
Fry the eggs until cooked to your liking. Egg whites set with gentle to moderate heat. If the pan is too hot, the edges turn brown and rubbery before the yolk reaches the desired doneness, so keep the heat controlled and watch closely.
“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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