Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 27,232 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Scotch Woodcock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Butter both sides of the toasted bread.
Wash, scrape, and finely chop the anchovies.
Place the anchovies between the slices of toast and cut into 4-6 pieces.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, combine the beaten egg yolks and cream, and heat gently until thickened but not boiling.
Serve
Pour the custard over the toast and serve hot.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream share little aroma chemistry, yet 42,166 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Bread
- Thick toast forms the base that holds the anchovies and custard.
- Anchovies
- Add a salty, savoury flavour that contrasts with the rich custard.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the cream into a custard as they gently set with heat.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture, forming the base of the custard.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the toast, helping it brown and taste rich.
The step that matters
Heating the custard gently. Egg yolks set when heated, but if the custard boils it can curdle and turn grainy. Heating slowly over gentle heat and stopping once it thickens keeps it smooth.
“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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