Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Ham Croutes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the ham topping
Fry the shallot in the butter until slightly browned.
Add the ham and stir over the heat until hot.
Stir in the egg yolks and cream, season with pepper, and cook until the mixture thickens.
Serve
Dish the mixture onto the croûtes and serve sprinkled with parsley.
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.
-
Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the mixture as they cook, giving it a soft, creamy set.
- Butter
- Fat that carries the shallot flavour and helps it brown lightly.
- Cooked ham
- Provides the savoury main flavour of the topping.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture smooth and loose.
The step that matters
Cooking after the egg yolks go in. Egg yolks set when heated, but too much heat can curdle them into a grainy texture. Cook gently and stop once the mixture thickens.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, butter, cream, egg, parsley, pepper, bread):
- Leekfits about as well
- Shallotthe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, butter, cream, egg, parsley, pepper, bread. 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.
You might also like
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 recipes
Nut Bread109 recipes
Wheat Bread65 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.