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Woodcock Toast

A savory toast topped with a liver and anchovy mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Woodcock Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the livers

  1. Wash and clean the livers.

  2. Dry and pound the livers in a mortar.

  3. Bone and skin the anchovy. Pound the anchovy to a paste.

Make the mixture

  1. Mix the livers, anchovy paste, butter, sugar, and seasonings thoroughly.

  2. Rub the mixture through a sieve.

  3. Add the egg yolks and half the cream.

  4. Stir the mixture in a double saucepan until it thickens.

  5. Add the remaining cream and a dust of cayenne.

Serve

  1. Pour the mixture over the buttered toast.

  2. Serve hot, garnished nicely.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  2. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Anchovy + eggtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Anchovy + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together798 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chicken or duck livers
Provide the main body and rich flavour of the spread.
Eggs
Yolks thicken the mixture as it gently heats, giving a smooth, set texture.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the mixture.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness, loosening the mixture and keeping it smooth.
Anchovy
Adds a savoury depth of flavour without tasting strongly fishy.

The step that matters

Stir the mixture in a double saucepan until it thickens. Egg yolks set at gentle heat and can scramble if overheated. A double saucepan keeps the heat moderate so the mixture thickens smoothly.

“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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