Name: Mushrooms on Toast
Ingredients: 1 quart mushrooms; 1 ounce butter; ½ pound raw minced steak; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper; ½ cup hot water; additional butter (if needed); slices of bread (for toast); optional: a splash of sherry

Why it works: Mushroom and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,176 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, which smells smoky, clove. The science ↓

Mushrooms on Toast

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

Clean the mushrooms and trim the root ends.
Melt the butter in a frying pan over medium heat.

Cook and serve

Add the minced steak and cook until the juices are extracted, about 10 minutes.
Tilt the pan and press the meat with a spoon to remove excess liquid, then discard the meat.
Add the mushrooms to the pan with the remaining liquid; if needed, add more butter.
Toss the mushrooms for a moment until coated, then pour over hot toast.
Optional: Add a splash of sherry before serving.

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.

Mushroom + sherrytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,176 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mushrooms: Form the bulk of the topping and release moisture that combines with the meat juices.
Raw minced steak: Releases juices that flavour the pan liquid, then is discarded, leaving a beefy essence.
Butter: Carries heat and adds richness, helping the mushrooms brown and coat evenly.

The step that matters

Pressing the meat to remove excess liquid. Pressing and tilting the pan separates the flavourful juices from the meat before discarding it. Leaving too much fat or moisture in the pan can make the mushrooms steam and turn soggy instead of coated and savoury.

“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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Mushrooms on Toast