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Scrambled Eggs with Cheese

A quick egg scramble mixed with cheese and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,062 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Scrambled Eggs with Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs with salt and nutmeg.

  2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat.

  3. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook gently, stirring frequently.

  4. When the eggs are nearly set, add the cheese and parsley.

  5. Continue to cook until the cheese melts and the eggs are fully cooked.

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. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Cheese + nutmegtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together684 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Cheese + parsleytop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,507 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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 soft curds that give the scramble its structure and body.
Cheese
Melts into the eggs, adding richness and a creamy texture.
Salt
Seasons the eggs and slightly weakens their proteins for a more tender curd.

The step that matters

Cook gently and stop before the eggs look fully firm. Eggs turn rubbery when their proteins tighten under high heat. Cooking over medium heat with frequent stirring, and removing them while still glossy, keeps the curds soft because residual heat finishes the cooking.

Swap the nutmeg

The recipe marks nutmeg as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cheese, parsley):

  1. Dillfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Capersfits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cheese, parsley. 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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