Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓
Fried Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Fry the eggs
Heat the butter or fat in a frying pan over medium heat.
Break the eggs into cups and gently slip them into the hot butter or fat.
Fry until the whites are set, about 5 minutes.
Gently draw the whites over the yolks with a spoon while frying.
Baste the eggs with the hot butter or fat until fully cooked.
Remove the eggs with a slotted spatula, draining excess fat.
Serve
Trim the edges and serve on slices of toasted bread.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set whites and rich yolks form the main body of the dish.
- Butter or fat
- Conducts heat to cook the eggs and adds richness and flavor.
The step that matters
Basting the eggs. Spooning hot fat over the eggs cooks the whites and tops without overcooking the yolk too early. Keeping heat moderate prevents the edges from browning harshly or the whites from toughening.
“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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