Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cauliflower with White Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Trim the cauliflower, cutting away only the bad and bruised leaves and the coarse part of the stalk. Put it into salt water to force out any insects in the cauliflower. After soaking, wash it well in fresh water and boil quickly until tender, and serve with white sauce.
CELERY (ITALIAN).
2 heads of celery, 1/2 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 egg, 1 cupful of breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste. Cut up the celery into pieces, boil it in water for 10 minutes; drain it and put it into the stewpan with the milk, 1/2 oz. butter, pepper and salt. Simmer the celery gently until tender, put it aside to cool a little, and add the egg well beaten. Butter a shallow dish, strew it well with some of the breadcrumbs, and pour in the celery, sprinkle the rest of the breadcrumbs over the top, put the butter over it in little bits, and bake the celery until brown.
CELERY (STEAMED) WITH WHITE CHEESE SAUCE.
Prepare the celery as in previous recipe, leaving it in long pieces, and place it in a vegetable steamer, which consists of a large saucepan over which is fitted a perforated top. Add a little pepper and salt, and let the celery steam for 1-1/2 hours. For the sauce you need: 1 pint of milk, 1 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour, 1-1/2 oz. of grated cheese, pepper and salt to taste. Boil the milk with the butter, thicken it with the cornflour smoothed first with a spoonful of water, and last add the grated cheese and seasoning; let the sauce simmer, stirring it until the cheese is dissolved. Have ready some Allinson plain rusks on a flat dish, place the celery on it, pour the sauce over, and serve very hot.
CELERY (STEWED) WITH WHITE SAUCE.
2 or 3 heads of celery (according to quantity required), 2 oz. of butter, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of milk, pepper and salt to taste. Remove the outer hard pieces from the celery, saving them for flavouring soups or sauces; wash well and cut up in pieces about 3 inches long. Set over the fire with 1/2 pint of water, the butter and seasoning. Let cook gently until the celery is quite tender, which will take about 1 hour; add the thickening and the milk. Let all gently simmer for a few minutes, and serve.
Remove the coarse part of the green stalks of the leeks. If the leeks are gritty cut them right through and wash them well, and if necessary use a brush to get out the sand. Tie the leeks in bunches and steam them until tender, which will take about 1-1/2 hours. Make a white sauce as for the cauliflower. Put the leeks on pieces of dry toast on a flat dish, pour the sauce over them, and serve.
MUSHROOMS (STEWED).
1 lb. of mushrooms, 1 oz. of butter, 1/2 pint of water, 1/2 teaspoonful of herbs, 1/2 saltspoonful of nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste, juice of 1/2 a lemon, the yolk of 1 egg, 1 dessertspoonful of Allinson cornflour. Peel and clean the mushrooms, and wash them in water with a dash of vinegar in it. Wipe them dry with a cloth; have the water and butter ready in a saucepan with the herbs, and seasoning. Stew the mushrooms in this for 10 to 15 minutes. Thicken with the cornflour, then stir in the yolk of egg with the lemon juice, and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Celery | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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.
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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Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Celery + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,331 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, nutmeg, vinegar, egg, flour, pepper):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, nutmeg, vinegar, egg, flour, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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