Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Egg Plant
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and slice the eggplant into ½-inch thick slices.
Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt between each slice and let it stand for 1 hour.
Rinse off the salt with cold water and wipe each slice dry.
Coat and fry
Dip each slice first in the beaten egg, then in the rolled crackers or bread crumbs.
Season with pepper and salt.
Fry in butter or lard until thoroughly cooked and golden brown.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Eggplant + peppertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,123 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, 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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Eggplant + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together265 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggplant
- Forms the tender interior that contrasts with the crisp coating.
- Egg
- Binds the cracker or bread crumb coating so it adheres to the slices.
- Rolled crackers or bread crumbs
- Forms a crisp, golden browned crust when fried.
- Butter or lard
- Conducts heat for frying and adds richness and browning to the crust.
The step that matters
Frying until thoroughly cooked and golden. Eggplant is spongy and absorbs fat; frying over steady heat until the slices are cooked through and golden brown gives a crisp crust without greasy, undercooked centers.
Swap the eggplant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, bread, pepper, butter):
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Chivefits better
- Eggplantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, bread, pepper, 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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