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Cauliflower Au Gratin

A baked cauliflower dish topped with Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and parmesan cheese work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 138 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cauliflower Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Divide the cold boiled cauliflower and arrange it in a fireproof dish.

Assemble and bake

  1. Add 3 tablespoons of cheese to the white sauce and pour it over the cauliflower.

  2. Coat the top with breadcrumbs and remaining cheese.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until well browned.

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. Cauliflower + parmesan cheesetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together138 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parmesan cheese + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

  3. Cauliflower + saucetop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together463 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower
Forms the bulk of the dish and provides the main vegetable texture.
White sauce
Binds the dish with a creamy moisture that coats the cauliflower.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory flavor and helps the top brown during baking.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp topping that contrasts with the soft filling.

The step that matters

Bake until well browned. The oven must be hot enough for the top to brown, which depends on the cheese and breadcrumbs. Stopping too early leaves the sauce pale and the topping soft, while overbaking can dry the sauce and harden the crumbs.

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parmesan cheese, sauce):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parmesan cheese, sauce. 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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