Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,923 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Eggs a LA Dauphine
Ingredients
Directions
Poach the eggs
Poach the eggs in the strained cooked tomatoes until done.
Carefully lift the eggs to a heated platter.
Make and serve the sauce
In a separate pan, mix the flour and butter, then add to the tomato juice.
Season with salt and pepper, then pour the sauce around the eggs.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Provide the main body of the dish, setting firm as they poach in the tomatoes.
- Strained cooked tomatoes
- Form the poaching liquid and the base of the sauce, adding moisture and acidity.
- Flour
- Thickens the tomato liquid into a smooth sauce when cooked with butter.
- Butter
- Cooks with the flour to form a roux, adding richness and body to the sauce.
The step that matters
Poaching the eggs in the tomatoes. Eggs poached in a liquid need gentle, steady heat. Too vigorous a simmer breaks the whites apart and can toughen the yolks, so the eggs should be cooked just until set and then lifted out carefully.
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, butter, pepper):
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Asparagusbetter flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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