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Curried Anchovy Croutons

A savory appetizer of curried anchovy paste spread over fried bread rounds, topped with cayenne pepper and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓

Curried Anchovy Croutons

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 paste

  1. Soak the anchovies in cold water, then drain, wipe, and bone them.

  2. Pound the anchovies in a mortar with butter, curry powder, and egg yolk until well mixed.

  3. Pass the mixture through a sieve into a saucepan and stir over heat until hot.

Assemble and serve

  1. Spread the anchovy paste thinly over the fried bread rounds.

  2. Top with the anchovy mixture and dust with cayenne pepper.

  3. Place the dish in the oven at 400°F (200°C) for a few minutes before serving.

  4. Garnish with fresh parsley 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.

  1. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,588 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

Anchovies
Provide the salty, savory base flavour that defines the dish.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, spreadable texture.
Egg yolk
Binds the paste so it holds together and spreads evenly.
Curry powder
Adds warm, aromatic spice that complements the anchovies.
Fried bread rounds
Provide a crisp base that holds the anchovy topping.

The step that matters

Heating the paste through the sieve. The egg yolk can scramble and turn grainy if the paste gets too hot. Stirring gently over low heat only until warm keeps the mixture smooth and spreadable.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, bread, pepper):

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Sagefits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, bread, pepper. 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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