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 Poached with Tomato Sauce
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.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Add the canned tomatoes and a pinch of baking soda; stir well.
Season with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste.
Poach and serve
Allow the sauce to cool slightly, then break and drop in the eggs.
Cook until the egg whites are firm, basting the eggs with the sauce frequently.
Carefully place the poached eggs on squares of toast and pour the sauce around them.
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 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour 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
- Their proteins set when heated, giving the poached eggs their firm white and soft yolk.
- Butter
- Melts to form the fat base for the sauce and adds richness and flavor.
- Flour
- Cooked in the melted butter as a roux, it thickens the tomato sauce.
- Canned tomatoes
- Provide the main body, acidity, and flavor of the sauce.
- Baking soda
- Neutralizes some of the tomatoes' acidity, mellowing the sauce's sharpness.
The step that matters
Let the sauce cool slightly before adding the eggs. If the sauce is too hot, the egg whites set and spread or break apart quickly, so they lose their neat shape. A slightly cooled sauce lets the whites firm gradually around the yolks.
“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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