Why it works: Egg and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Ox-Tail Soup
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare and cook
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Dip the ox tails in egg, then coat with bread crumbs.
Place the coated ox tails in the oven until browned.
Simultaneously, boil the ox tails until cooked through.
Serve
Serve with gravy or any preferred sauce.
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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Bread + saucetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,934 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + saucetop 39% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,895 recipes
Egg and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,895 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
- Ox tails
- Main protein; boiling breaks down connective tissue so the meat becomes tender.
- Egg
- Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs stick to the ox tails.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp coating that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Boil the ox tails until cooked through. The oven browns the coating but may not fully cook the meat, so boiling makes sure the ox tails are cooked through before serving.
“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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