Why it works: Beetroot and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 92 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 6Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Brush a soufflé dish with the 20g butter, dust it with the breadcrumbs, and shake out any excess.
Blend the cooked beetroot with the grapefruit juice until smooth. Stir in the horseradish and season with sea salt and black pepper.
Separate the eggs. Melt 75g of the unsalted butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the beetroot purée and simmer until thick.
Off the heat, beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then fold a spoonful into the base before folding in the rest gently.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until risen and set in the centre. The centre must reach 160°F (71°C).
While the soufflé bakes, melt the remaining 50g of butter in a small pan. Add the crushed garlic and cook gently for 1 minute without browning.
Add the drained anchovy fillets, mashing them into the butter, then stir in the double cream. Simmer gently for 3 to 4 minutes until slightly thickened, then season lightly with pepper.
Serve the soufflé immediately with the warm anchovy sauce spooned alongside.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beetroot + anchovytop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Beetroot + horseradishtop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together209 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + garlictop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,044 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Horseradish + garlictop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together717 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Grapefruit + peppertop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together117 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the grapefruit
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, beetroot, horseradish, pepper, flour, egg, garlic):
- Lemonbetter flavor fit
- Avocadobetter flavor fit
- Limebetter flavor fit
- Grapefruitthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, beetroot, horseradish, pepper, flour, egg, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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