Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Scalloped Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the dish
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Butter a small deep dish.
Line the bottom of the dish with soaked bread crumbs.
Layer the bread crumbs with minced ham, seasoned with onion and parsley.
Cover the dish.
Heat the covered dish in the oven until smoking hot.
Make the custard and bake
Beat the eggs until frothy.
Stir in cream, melted butter, salt, and pepper.
Pour the egg mixture over the ham layer.
Bake uncovered for 5 minutes, or until the eggs are set.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 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 when baked, forming the soft custard that binds the dish together.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, keeping the eggs tender rather than rubbery.
- Bread crumbs
- Form the base layer, soaking up moisture and giving the dish body.
- Ham
- Provides savory flavor and salt-cured aroma in the layer under the eggs.
- Butter
- Adds fat for flavor and helps prevent the dish from sticking.
The step that matters
Bake uncovered until the eggs are just set. Egg proteins set at moderate heat and turn rubbery and watery if overbaked. Watching for a just-set center keeps the custard smooth and tender.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, ham, parsley, cream, butter, pepper, bread):
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, ham, parsley, cream, butter, pepper, bread. 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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