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Eggs a LA Suisse

A baked dish of eggs, cheese, butter, cream, and seasonings.

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

Eggs a LA Suisse

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. Spread the bottom of a dish with 2 ounces of fresh butter.

  2. Cover the butter with grated cheese.

  3. Break 8 whole eggs onto the cheese without breaking the yolks.

  4. Season with red pepper and coarse sea salt if necessary.

  5. Pour a little cream on the surface.

  6. Strew about 2 ounces of grated cheese on top.

Bake and brown

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 15 minutes.

  2. Use a hot salamander to brown the top.

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. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

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

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, custardy layer as they cook, forming the body of the dish.
Fresh butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the dish cook gently in the dish.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savory flavor and a golden crust.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness, keeping the yolks and whites tender as they set.

The step that matters

Breaking the eggs onto the cheese without breaking the yolks. Intact yolks look neat and cook evenly. Egg proteins set with heat, so a broken yolk spreads and cooks unevenly, and the dish loses its clean look.

“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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