Why it works: Coffee and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 29% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,239 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Making Coffee
Ingredients
Directions
Use a patent coffee pot or a cloth sack for brewing.
For each person, add 1 teaspoon of coffee powder to the pot.
If using, mix in the egg or crushed eggshells, or dried codfish skin.
Add half the boiling water needed to the pot.
Boil the mixture rapidly for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Add the remaining boiling water before serving.
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.
-
Coffee + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,239 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
- Coffee powder
- Provides the main coffee flavour and aroma that the water extracts.
- Egg
- Optional; its proteins can bind fine grounds so they settle and the brew clears.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture rapidly for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Vigorous boiling with stirring extracts flavour from the grounds and keeps them from clumping on the bottom. Simmering afterwards lets the grounds settle, so the brew stays clearer.
“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.
More coffee recipes
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipes
Lemonade126 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.