Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Stuffed Onions
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the onions
Boil the onions without peeling for 1 hour.
Drain, remove the skins, and cut out the center of each onion.
Fill and bake
Mix the chopped ham or tongue with the bread crumbs, melted butter, cream, salt, and pepper.
Fill the onions with the mixture.
Place them in a baking pan, baste with melted butter, and dust with bread crumbs.
Bake at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour.
Serve
Serve with cream sauce poured over them.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Onions
- Form the edible shell that holds the filling and softens into a tender, sweet base when cooked.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the butter and cream to bind the filling and add body, while the dusting crisps and browns on top.
- Ham or tongue
- Adds savory, meaty flavor to the filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps the crumb topping brown during baking.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness to the filling and keeps it from drying out.
The step that matters
Cutting out the center of each onion. Cutting too thin a wall can tear or leave the onion unable to hold the filling, while cutting too thick leaves the onion underseasoned and slow to soften. Keeping a sturdy but tender shell lets the filling stay inside during baking.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, bread, butter, cream, pepper):
- Potatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, bread, butter, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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