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Cauliflower Au Gratin

A baked cauliflower dish topped with cheese and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,987 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. 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 a cold boiled cauliflower and arrange it in an ovenproof dish.

Assemble

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

  2. Coat the top with breadcrumbs and additional cheese.

Bake

  1. 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. Sauce + cheesetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,987 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

White sauce
Forms a creamy binding that coats the cauliflower and keeps the gratin moist.
Cheese
Melts into the sauce and browns on top, adding savory flavor.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden topping that contrasts with the soft filling.

The step that matters

Bake until well browned. Baking long enough lets the surface crust and brown through the Maillard reaction, which builds flavor and color. Stopping too early leaves a pale, soft top.

“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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