Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Scalloped Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the eggs
Boil the eggs for 20 minutes.
Shell and slice the boiled eggs crosswise.
Make the white sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Gradually add the milk, stirring until the sauce thickens.
Stir in the chopped parsley.
Season the sauce with salt and pepper.
Assemble and bake
In a buttered baking dish, layer bread crumbs.
Add a layer of egg slices.
Moisten the layers with white sauce.
Repeat layers until all ingredients are used.
Finish with a layer of bread crumbs.
Dot the top with bits of butter.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Form the main body of the dish as sliced layers that hold their shape when baked.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the white sauce, which moistens the layers as it bakes.
- Butter
- Enriches the white sauce and adds richness to the top layer as it bakes.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a white sauce by gelatinizing with the melted butter.
- Bread crumbs
- Provide the dry layers that soak up sauce and brown on top in the oven.
The step that matters
Gradually add the milk, stirring until the sauce thickens. Adding milk slowly while stirring keeps the flour evenly dispersed, preventing lumps. The sauce thickens as its starch gelatinizes with heat, so it should be stirred until smooth and thickened before layering.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, butter, flour, pepper, bread):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, butter, flour, pepper, bread. 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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