Name: Eggs with Ham
Ingredients: 3 eggs; 1 tablespoon finely chopped cooked ham; 2 teaspoons browned breadcrumbs; 1 tablespoon white or brown sauce or gravy; 1 ounce butter; salt; pepper

Why it works: Sauce and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Eggs with Ham

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Grease 3 china soufflé cases.
Season the ham with pepper and moisten with the sauce or gravy.
Add a few drops of mushroom ketchup or any sauce you prefer, then place the mixture into the cases.

Bake and serve

Carefully add the eggs, keeping the yolks whole, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cover with a thin layer of breadcrumbs and place small pieces of butter on top.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until the eggs are set, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve in the cases.

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.

Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,475 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Sauce and butter 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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Whites and yolks set on baking to give the soufflé its structure and light texture.
Butter: Melts over the top during baking, adding richness and helping the surface brown.
Browned breadcrumbs: Form a thin crust on top that adds colour and a toasted texture.
Cooked ham: Provides the savoury meaty flavour that runs through the dish.

The step that matters

Carefully add the eggs, keeping the yolks whole. Eggs are the structure of the soufflé, so the yolks should stay intact and the whites should not be deflated. Gentle handling keeps air in the mixture, so it rises and sets lightly rather than going dense.

“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.