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German Toast

A toast topped with a ragout mixture, hard‑boiled egg, and breadcrumbs, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

German Toast

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the topping

  1. Chop the leftover fricassee or ragout finely and mix with parsley, shallot or chive, and beaten eggs.

  2. Put the mixture with its gravy into a saucepan and let it reduce and thicken over heat.

  3. Allow the mixture to cool, then toast the bread slices.

  4. Spread the mixture thickly on the toasted bread.

Top and bake

  1. Cut the hard-boiled egg into small pieces and place them on top.

  2. Brush the entire dish with beaten egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and bake in a 350 °F (175 °C) oven.

  3. Squeeze a little lemon juice on top before serving.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Shallot + lemontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,523 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

  5. Shallot + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,245 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

Leftover fricassee or ragout
Provides the savory base and gravy that thickens into the spreadable topping.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set when heated, giving it a firm, sliceable texture.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the bread brown and taste toasted.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust on top during baking.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, savory flavors.

The step that matters

Reducing the mixture until thick. If the mixture stays too wet, it will soak into the toast and make it soggy. Cooling it before spreading lets it hold its shape on the bread.

“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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