Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Beoad Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the young beans until tender.
Drain the beans and place them in a saucepan.
Add a piece of butter and season with coarse sea salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and a pinch of sugar.
Toss the beans over the heat until heated through.
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.
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Beans + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together267 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
-
Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, nutmeg, sugar):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Walnutfits better
- Beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, nutmeg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More baked beans recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
German Style String Beans7 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes