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Eggs in Cases

Eggs baked in ramekins with Parmesan, breadcrumbs, shallot, cream, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Eggs in Cases

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Brush the inside of the ramekin cases with clarified butter or oil.

  2. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and preheat the oven for a few minutes.

  3. Fry the shallot in a little butter, then drain the fried shallot.

  4. Divide the shallot equally among the ramekins.

Assemble

  1. Mix the breadcrumbs with half the Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper in a bowl, then distribute the breadcrumb mixture into each ramekin.

  2. Add a small piece of butter to each ramekin.

  3. Carefully break an egg into each ramekin.

  4. Sprinkle each ramekin with salt and pepper.

  5. Pour a little cream over each egg.

  6. Add the remaining Parmesan cheese to each ramekin.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until set, about 6 minutes.

  2. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  4. Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set to form the body of the dish as the heat firms their proteins.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the egg tender rather than dry.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savoury flavour and browns on top during baking.
Breadcrumbs
Soak up moisture and add a light, textured base beneath the egg.
Shallot
Contributes a mild, sweet onion aroma and savoury depth.

The step that matters

Bake until just set. Egg proteins firm as they heat, so pulling the ramekins once the whites are set but the yolks still look soft keeps the texture tender. Overbaking makes the egg rubbery and dry.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, parmesan cheese, cream, parsley, butter, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, parmesan cheese, cream, parsley, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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