Name: Anchovy Toast
Ingredients: 4 boned anchovies; 1 hard-boiled egg; 4 pieces of toast; Dried lobster coral; Finely-chopped parsley; Butter

Why it works: Parsley and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Anchovy Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the toast

Cut the toast into rounds using a cookie cutter.
Spread a little butter on each round of toast.

Prepare the anchovies and egg

Wash the anchovies and pat them dry.
Fold each anchovy and place one on each round of toast.
Chop the white of the hard‑boiled egg and rub the yolk through a fine sieve.

Assemble and serve

On top of each anchovy, add a bit of the chopped egg white and then a little of the yolk.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley and dried lobster coral.
Serve cold.

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.

Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28,563 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Lobster + buttertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,609 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,765 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lobster + parsleytop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together890 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Anchovies: Provide the salty, savoury flavour that is the centrepiece of the toast.
Hard-boiled egg: Adds a soft, rich texture and mild savoury body through its chopped white and sieved yolk.
Butter: Adds fat and richness to the toast and helps the toppings sit well.
Toast: Gives a crisp base that holds the toppings and contrasts with their softness.