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Bombay Toast

A toast topped with a spicy anchovy‑caper egg mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and capers work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 473 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

Bombay Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Make the egg mixture

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over boiling water.

  2. Stir in the eggs, cayenne, essence of anchovy, and chopped capers.

  3. Continue stirring until the eggs begin to set.

Serve on toast

  1. Spread the mixture on small rounds of buttered toast.

  2. Serve on a hot-water plate.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Anchovy + caperstop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together473 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Pepper + caperstop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,088 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + caperstop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,637 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set when heated, thickening the mixture into a soft, spreadable topping.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky texture to the egg mixture.
Capers
Add a briny, sharp note that cuts through the richness of the eggs.

The step that matters

Continue stirring until the eggs begin to set. Egg proteins set with gentle heat. Stirring constantly over the hot water keeps the mixture soft and creamy; if the heat is too high or the stirring stops, the eggs can overcook and turn grainy or curdled.

Swap the capers

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, pepper, anchovy):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Capersthe original
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, pepper, anchovy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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