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Asparagus, with Eggs

A sautéed asparagus dish finished with beaten eggs and served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Asparagus, with Eggs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the green part of the asparagus into pea-sized pieces.

  2. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  3. Add cream or milk, gravy, pepper, and salt to the melted butter.

Cook and serve

  1. Stir in the asparagus and quickly add the beaten eggs.

  2. Cook over low heat for half a minute until the eggs are set.

  3. Pour the mixture onto a hot dish, garnish with toasted bread, and serve hot.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  2. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Asparagus + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Provides the main vegetable bulk and a fresh, green flavor to the dish.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and helping keep the eggs soft and smooth.
Eggs
Set with gentle heat to bind the mixture into a soft, cohesive texture.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and creaminess, keeping the eggs tender rather than dry.

The step that matters

Cook over low heat until the eggs are just set. Eggs are proteins that tighten when overheated, becoming dry, rubbery, and curdled. Gentle heat and a short cook time keep the mixture soft and creamy.

Swap the asparagus

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

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Asparagusthe original
  4. Capsicumfits about as well

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