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Eggs, Anchovy

A toasted bread topped with a seasoned egg mixture containing anchovy paste and cayenne pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Eggs, Anchovy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the egg mixture

  1. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

  2. Mix in anchovy paste and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

Fry and serve

  1. Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat.

  2. Fry the slices of stale bread until golden brown.

  3. Pour the egg mixture over the fried bread and cook until set.

  4. Serve hot.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Anchovy + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,260 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).

  3. Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,330 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a custardy topping that binds the anchovy flavour to the bread.
Stale bread
Forms the sturdy base that holds the egg and browns in the frying pan.
Anchovy paste
Adds a salty, savoury depth that seasons the egg mixture.
Butter
Adds fat for frying, promoting browning and a rich flavour on the bread.

The step that matters

Pour the egg mixture over the fried bread and cook until set. Eggs set when proteins coagulate under gentle heat. If the heat is too high, the egg over-cooks and turns rubbery or scorches before the centre firms, so medium heat and patience give a tender, evenly set topping.

“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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