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Asparagus with Eggs

A vegetable puree of asparagus, lettuce, and onion served with poached eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 313 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus with Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut off the tops of the asparagus and keep them in cold water until needed.

  2. Bring the milk to a boil.

  3. Add the asparagus stalks, lettuce, onion, bay leaf, thyme, and salt to the boiling milk.

  4. Simmer gently for about 20 minutes.

  5. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.

Make the puree

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  2. Stir in the flour and cook slightly.

  3. Add the vegetable puree and the milk it was cooked in, stirring until it boils.

  4. Cool slightly.

  5. Add the egg yolks.

  6. Cook gently until thickened, stirring continuously.

  7. Add the lemon juice to the puree.

  8. Season to taste.

Serve

  1. Boil the asparagus tops for 10 to 15 minutes.

  2. Poach the eggs, trimming them to a nice round shape.

  3. Pour it down the middle of a hot dish.

  4. Arrange the poached eggs on either side.

  5. Garnish the top of the puree with the asparagus points.

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. Asparagus + lettucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together313 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Lettuce + thymetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together247 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,562 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the puree as they gently cook, giving it a smooth, rich body.
Flour
Flour mixed into melted butter forms a roux that thickens the milk-based puree.
Butter
Butter enriches the sauce and adds a rich, smooth flavour and mouthfeel.
Milk
Milk forms the liquid base of the puree and adds richness and body.
Asparagus
Asparagus stalks give the puree its main vegetable flavour, while the tops are served whole.

The step that matters

Cook the yolks gently until thickened. Egg yolks set at low heat and can curdle or scramble if the mixture boils, so stir continuously over gentle heat.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, milk, lettuce, thyme, butter, egg, flour):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, milk, lettuce, thyme, butter, egg, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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