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 ↓
Anchovy Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the toast
Toast the bread until golden brown.
Spread butter on the hot toast.
Top and serve
Mix anchovy paste with the egg in a bowl.
Pour the mixture over the buttered toast.
Serve immediately.
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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Anchovy + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,260 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Anchovy + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Sets on the hot toast to form a soft, creamy topping.
- Anchovy paste
- Adds a salty, savoury flavour that defines the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness and helps the toast brown and taste rounded.
- Bread
- Gives a sturdy, toasted base that holds the topping.
The step that matters
Pour the mixture over the buttered toast and serve immediately. The heat from the hot toast partly sets the egg, giving a soft, creamy texture. As the egg cools it firms and loses its silkiness, so it should be served right away.
“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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