Name: Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin
Ingredients: 2 pounds sprouts in cold water; 1 cup white sauce containing 1 tablespoon grated cheese; 1 tablespoon grated cheese; a teaspoon of salt to every quart of water; 2 table- spoons of the sauce to the sprouts; 82 vegetables

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 ↓

Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin

Ingredients

2 pounds sprouts in cold water
1 cup white sauce containing 1 tablespoon grated cheese
1 tablespoon grated cheese
a teaspoon of salt to every quart of water
2 table- spoons of the sauce to the sprouts
82 vegetables

Directions

Prepare

Pick and steep 2 pounds sprouts in cold water and salt for a few hours before cooking.
Have ready 1 cup white sauce containing 1 tablespoon grated cheese.

Cook and serve

Throw them into plenty of boiling water containing a teaspoon of salt to every quart of water.
Boil quickly for 15 minutes; then drain.
Add 2 tablespoons of the sauce to the sprouts, shaking it well among them.
Serve the remaining sauce in a separate dish.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

233Calories

7 gProtein

23 gFat

0 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Vegetable	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Sauce	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. 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. See the original page.

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.

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

Sprouts: Form the main body of the dish, cooked until tender before being coated with sauce.
White sauce: Adds moisture and creaminess, coating the sprouts and giving a rich texture.
Grated cheese: Adds savoury flavour and richness to the white sauce.

The step that matters

Boil quickly for 15 minutes; then drain. Boiling for the full stated time cooks the sprouts until tender without overcooking them. Overcooking releases sulfur compounds, giving a strong smell and mushy texture.

“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.

Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes

Cheese Making50 recipes

Cheese Fritters34 recipes

Cheese Omelette31 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

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.

Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin