Why it works: Egg and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Bacon and Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the bacon into thin slices.
Place the bacon in a skillet over low heat, turning frequently.
Once the bacon has melted, pour the fat into a dish.
Cook and serve
Break the eggs over the bacon fat.
Add the gravy, salt, and pepper.
Cook over low heat until the eggs are set.
Use a broiler to finish cooking, then serve.
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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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Set into a firm structure as their proteins coagulate with gentle heat.
- Bacon
- Melts to render fat for cooking the eggs and adds savory flavor.
- Gravy
- Adds moisture and savory flavor to the eggs.
The step that matters
Cook the eggs over low heat until just set. Egg proteins coagulate quickly at high heat and become tough and rubbery. Gentle low heat sets them while keeping the texture tender, so the eggs should be removed once the whites are firm.
“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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