Why it works: Mushroom and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Smooth the yolks gently with a knife.
Arrange the eggs on a dish and place them in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 15 minutes.
Serve immediately after removing from the oven.
For a variation, press the mixture into small buttered cups and bake for 15 minutes.
Turn the cups onto a dish and sauce with Espagnole or serve without.
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.
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Mushroom + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,480 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + mushroomtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,987 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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