Name: Creamed Shrimps on Toast
Ingredients: 1 can of shrimps or equivalent fresh shrimps, shelled; 2 tablespoons butter; 2 tablespoons flour; 1 quart milk; pepper to taste; toasted bread

Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Creamed Shrimps on Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Wash and drain the shrimps or shell the fresh ones.

Make the sauce

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the flour and stir until smooth, but do not brown.
Pour in the milk and bring to a boil.

Finish and serve

Season with pepper, add the shrimps, and heat through on low.
Pour the mixture over toasted bread and serve.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,466 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Shrimp + buttertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,931 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Butter: Enriches the sauce and carries flavor while forming the base with the flour.
Flour: Thickens the milk into a smooth, creamy sauce as it cooks.
Milk: Forms the liquid base of the cream sauce, giving it body and mild sweetness.
Shrimps: Provide the main protein and flavor, gently warmed in the sauce.

The step that matters

Add the flour and stir until smooth, but do not brown. Flour must be stirred into the melted butter so it cooks without lumps, forming a smooth roux. Browning changes the flavor and color of the sauce and weakens its thickening power, so keep the heat moderate and stir constantly.

“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.

Brown Bread461 recipes

White Bread80 recipes

Bread Omelette60 recipes

Oatmeal Bread51 recipes

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Creamed Shrimps on Toast