Why it works: Milk and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Mennonite Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the eggs well, then add milk and salt.
Cut slices of bread an inch thick and remove the crust.
Dip the bread slices into the egg mixture.
Fry and serve
Fry the slices in very hot lard or drippings until golden brown.
Serve hot, buttered, and sprinkled with powdered sugar.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Eggs
- Bind the milk and bread into a custard coating that sets and firms when fried.
- Milk
- Adds moisture to the egg mixture so the bread soaks up a soft, tender coating.
- Baker's bread
- Soaks up the egg mixture and becomes a custardy interior beneath the crisp fried surface.
- Lard or drippings
- Conducts high heat for frying, driving browning and a crisp, golden crust.
The step that matters
Fry the slices in very hot lard or drippings until golden brown.. Fat that is not hot enough lets the egg-soaked bread absorb grease and cook slowly, leaving it soggy. Very hot fat sets the egg coating quickly and drives browning on the surface.
“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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