Why it works: Onion and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,827 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
Boiled Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Skin the onions carefully and place them in boiling water.
After a few minutes, pour off the water and add clean cold water.
Boil again, then pour off the water and add more cold water.
Continue boiling until done to make them white and mild in flavor.
Once cooked, pour off all the water and dress with cream, salt, and pepper to taste.
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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Onion + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,827 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Onion and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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