Why it works: Asparagus and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 566 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Spring Carrots
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and scrape the asparagus, parboil for ten minutes and dry them on a cloth.
Glaze and serve
Return the asparagus to the saucepan with one heaped tablespoonful sugar, one cup stock, and one tablespoonful butter, and boil gently about half an hour or until perfectly tender.
Remove the cover and boil fast until the stock is reduced to a glaze.
Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and serve with the glaze on the asparagus.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Asparagus | 6 spears (90g) | 27 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Asparagus + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together566 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Butter + asparagustop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,026 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Asparagus + sugartop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together488 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Asparagus
- Is the main vegetable; parboiling and then simmering softens it until tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the stock thicken and brown into a glaze as it reduces.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the reduced stock a smooth, glossy finish.
- Stock
- Provides the liquid that simmers the asparagus and reduces into the glaze.
The step that matters
Reducing the stock to a glaze. Boiling fast with the cover removed evaporates water and concentrates the sugar and butter. If the liquid is left too wet or reduced too long, the glaze can be thin or scorch and turn bitter.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, asparagus, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, asparagus, sugar. 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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