Why it works: Saffron and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,042 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
Colored Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve aniline dye in a little boiling water.
Add the dye to the water used for boiling the eggs.
For yellow, use saffron or onion peelings; for crimson, use beet juice.
Once colored, trace initials or designs on the eggs.
Carefully scratch the lines with a penknife to reveal white figures on the colored surface.
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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Saffron + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,042 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Saffron + eggtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together535 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Onion + eggtop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together23,333 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,333 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
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (saffron, egg):
- Spinachfits better
- Chivefits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against saffron, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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