Why it works: Butter and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Stuffed Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Boil the eggs for 20 minutes, then drop them in cold water.
Remove the shells and cut the eggs lengthwise.
Remove the yolks and cream them with salad dressing or the alternative mixture.
Fill and serve
Mix the yolks with chopped ham, chicken, or any cold meat.
Form the mixture into balls and fill the hollows of the egg whites.
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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Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whites form the edible shell that holds the filling, and yolks become the creamy base.
- Salad dressing
- Adds moisture and tang, making the cooked yolks smooth and spreadable.
- Chopped ham or chicken
- Adds savory flavor and body to the yolk filling.
The step that matters
Cream the yolks with the dressing. Cooked yolks are dry and crumbly. Working them smoothly with the dressing or butter emulsifies the fat and liquid, so the filling holds its shape and spreads evenly.
“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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