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Eggs in Cases

Eggs baked in butter cases with herbs, sea salt, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Eggs in Cases

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. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Place a piece of butter the size of a small nut and some chopped herbs in each case.

  3. Melt the butter in the oven.

Assemble

  1. Break a fresh egg into each case.

  2. Season with coarse sea salt and cover with lightly browned bread crumbs.

  3. Grate a little Parmesan cheese over the top.

Cook and serve

  1. Steam slowly until cooked.

  2. Optionally, pass a salamander over them before serving.

  3. Serve in the cases.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  4. Bread + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together577 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set into a firm but tender custard-like texture when gently heated.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and flavour and helps keep the eggs moist.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping and add texture over the soft egg.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savoury flavour and helps the top brown when heated.
Fresh herbs
Add aroma and fresh flavour to the butter and egg.

The step that matters

Steam slowly until cooked. Egg proteins set at moderate heat. Too much heat or time makes the whites rubbery and dries the yolk, so keep the cooking gentle and check for a barely set centre.

“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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