Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Anchovy Toast
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter on a very hot plate.
Add the yolks of the eggs and stir well.
Mix in the anchovy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper, stirring continuously.
Pour the sauce over the hot, crisp, buttered toast and serve immediately.
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.
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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Egg + anchovytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,330 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,697 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Anchovy + peppertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they 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
- Yolks thicken the buttery mixture into a creamy, spoonable sauce as they set with gentle heat.
- Butter
- Melts to form a rich fat base that carries flavour and keeps the sauce smooth.
- Anchovy sauce
- Adds a salty, savoury depth that is the dominant flavour of the dish.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Contributes tangy, savoury notes that round out the anchovy and butter.
The step that matters
Stirring the yolks into the hot butter. Egg yolks thicken when heated but can scramble into lumps if the heat is too high or they are not stirred constantly. Keep the plate hot enough to melt butter, stir steadily, and serve right away while the sauce is still smooth.
“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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