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Asparagus and Eggs

A quick asparagus omelet made with boiled asparagus, eggs, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,338 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Asparagus and Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the asparagus

  1. Boil the asparagus in water with a little salt until tender.

  2. Drain and chop the asparagus finely.

  3. Beat the chopped asparagus with the eggs as for an omelet.

Cook the omelet

  1. Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat.

  2. Pour the asparagus and egg mixture into the pan and fry until set.

  3. Serve hot.

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. Asparagus + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set to bind the asparagus and form the omelet's structure as they cook.
Asparagus
Provides the main vegetable bulk and a tender, mildly grassy texture.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the omelet brown lightly and release from the pan.

The step that matters

Fry until set. Cooking over medium heat until the eggs just set keeps the omelet tender; too much heat toughens the proteins and dries it out.

Swap the asparagus

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

  1. Asparagusthe original
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Potatofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter. 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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