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Eggs and Asparagus

Eggs with asparagus served on toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Eggs and Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the asparagus

  1. Cut the asparagus tops into small pieces about ½ inch long and cook them.

  2. Drain the asparagus and keep hot with a little melted butter over them.

Make the eggs

  1. Beat the eggs, then add cream and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

  2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a pan and stir in the beaten eggs.

  3. Stir continuously until the eggs begin to thicken, then add the asparagus.

  4. Mix carefully and serve on the toast cut into neat pieces.

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. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  3. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

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

  4. Asparagus + nutmegtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together252 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a soft custard-like texture as they thicken with gentle stirring.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, and keeps the asparagus moist and the eggs from sticking.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness, giving the eggs a looser, creamier texture.
Asparagus tops
Add a green, slightly grassy flavour and tender bite to the eggs.

The step that matters

Stir continuously until the eggs begin to thicken. Eggs are proteins that set with heat. Constant stirring over gentle heat keeps curds small and tender; if left still they overcook and turn rubbery or grainy.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, cream, pepper, nutmeg):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Asparagusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, cream, pepper, nutmeg. 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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