Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,122 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Egg Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the yolks and whites of the hard-boiled eggs into small dice.
Add the diced eggs to the melted butter.
Season with salt and pepper.
If serving with fish, add a drop or two of anchovy essence and chopped parsley if desired.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Anchovy + parsleytop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,702 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Provide the main body and texture of the sauce as diced pieces suspended in butter.
- Melted butter
- Forms the rich, fatty base that carries the egg and gives the sauce its smooth mouthfeel.
“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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