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Beetroot, Dressed

A salad of sliced beetroot, anchovies, egg whites, capers, shallot, and lemon‑anchovy dressing served on buttered bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Beetroot and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 92 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Prepare thin slices of brown bread and butter.

  2. Cut out 8 or 9 rounds about 3 inches in diameter.

  3. Cover each round with slices of beetroot of the same size and thickness.

Make the egg topping

  1. Cut the hard-boiled eggs into thin slices.

  2. Select 8 or 9 suitable slices.

  3. Remove the yolks.

  4. Place the rings of egg white on the beetroot rounds.

  5. Leave a narrow margin of beetroot visible.

  6. Pass the remaining egg yolks through a sieve.

  7. Mix with capers and shallot.

  8. Add a few drops of lemon juice.

  9. Add enough anchovy essence to form a moist paste.

  10. Season to taste.

  11. Pile the mixture in the center of the rounds.

Garnish and serve

  1. Garnish with fine strips of anchovies.

  2. Serve.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beetroot + anchovytop 14% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together92 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Capers + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together398 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Bread + buttertop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together27,145 recipes

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

  4. Beetroot + caperstop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together231 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Beetroot + shallottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together139 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Beetroot
Provides the earthy base and colour that the rounds are built on.
Hard-boiled eggs
Supply firm white rings and creamy sieved yolk for a rich, mild texture.
Anchovies
Add a salty, savoury depth that stands out against the sweet beetroot.
Capers
Add sharp, briny notes that cut through the richness of the yolk.
Brown bread
Forms a sturdy buttered base that holds the beetroot and topping.

The step that matters

Add anchovy essence to form a moist paste. Adding too little liquid leaves the sieved yolk crumbly, while too much makes it runny and unable to hold a pile on the rounds. Add it gradually and stop once the mixture is spreadable and holds its shape.

“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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