Why it works: Parsley and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Dropped Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a pan of water to a boil.
Carefully break the eggs close to the water and drop them in slowly to avoid breaking the yolks.
Using a large spoon, ladle boiling water over the yolks until the whites form a skim.
Remove the eggs with an egg slice and serve them on a dish.
Garnish with parsley or serve on buttered toast.
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 + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set whites form the poached body, while the yolk stays soft and runny.
The step that matters
Lowering the eggs into the water. Breaking the eggs close to the water and sliding them in slowly keeps the yolks intact. Egg whites set quickly in hot water, so a gentle entry helps the white wrap around the yolk instead of scattering.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Tarragonfits 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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