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Savory Custard

A custard made with eggs, cream, ham, tongue, herbs, and seasonings, steamed until set.

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 ↓

Savory Custard

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the custard

  1. Beat the eggs in a bowl.

  2. Add the cream and season with pepper, salt, cayenne, parsley, sweet herbs, and shallot.

  3. Stir in the chopped ham and tongue.

Cook and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into small round cups.

  2. Steam the cups for 10 minutes.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + shallottop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

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

  4. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

  5. Shallot + hamtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together798 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 the custard into a tender, sliceable structure as they cook.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the custard soft rather than rubbery.
Ham
Contributes savory, salty flavor throughout the custard.
Tongue
Adds savory, meaty flavor and a more substantial bite.
Shallot
Adds mild onion-like aroma and savory depth.

The step that matters

Steam the cups gently. Egg proteins set at moderate temperatures. High heat or boiling water can overcook the custard, making it grainy, watery, or spongy. Gentle steam keeps it smooth and tender.

Swap the shallot

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

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Carrotfits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, pepper, parsley, ham. 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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