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Souffle of Toasts

A baked souffle made with pounded meat, marrow, eggs, and toasts, topped with cheese and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Meat and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,533 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Souffle of Toasts

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Pound the dressed meat, beef marrow, and egg yolks in a mortar until well combined.

  2. Fry the toasts in boiling lard until golden brown.

  3. Spread the pounded mixture over the toasts.

Top and bake

  1. Beat the egg whites to a solid froth and spread over the mixture.

  2. Top with grated Parmesan cheese and fine bread crumbs.

  3. Bake in a moderately heated oven at 350°F (175°C) until nicely colored.

Serve

  1. Serve with a good cullis around the dish.

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. Meat + beeftop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,533 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

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

  4. Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,924 recipes

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

  5. Parmesan cheese + breadtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together577 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Beaten to a froth, they form a light, airy topping that puffs and sets in the oven.
Egg yolks
Bind the pounded meat and marrow into a cohesive, smooth layer.
Beef marrow
Adds richness and moisture, giving the mixture a soft, fatty texture.
Grated parmesan cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savory flavor and golden color.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to a solid froth. Egg whites must be beaten until they hold stiff peaks; under-beaten whites stay runny and sink into the mixture, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy. Well-formed foam traps air and expands in the oven, giving the topping its lift.

“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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