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Buttered Eggs on Toast

Poached eggs served on buttered toast, optionally garnished with ham or bacon, anchovy sauce, herbs, or vegetables.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Buttered Eggs on Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Poach the eggs until cooked to your liking.

  2. Fry the bread slices in butter until golden brown.

Assemble and serve

  1. Place the poached eggs on the fried bread.

  2. Garnish with grated ham or bacon, and sprinkle with chopped herbs or anchovy sauce if desired.

  3. Serve immediately.

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. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Bread + hamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Bread + anchovytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,260 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).

  5. Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 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
Form the main topping, setting into a soft or firm texture when poached.
Bread
Provides a crisp, golden base that holds the eggs.
Butter
Browns the bread in the pan and adds richness and flavour.
Grated ham or bacon
Adds salty, savoury flavour and browning as a garnish.

The step that matters

Poach the eggs until cooked to your liking. Egg whites set at around 60°C while yolks stay runny until about 65°C, so timing decides whether whites are fully set and yolks stay soft. Fresh eggs hold their shape better in simmering water.

“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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