Name: French Peas
Ingredients: 1 pint of peas; 1 small onion, peeled and sliced; 1 sprig of mint; 4 teaspoons of butter or margarine

Why it works: Peas and mint are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

French Peas

Ingredients

1 pint of peas
1 small onion, peeled and sliced
1 sprig of mint
4 teaspoons of butter or margarine

Directions

If using canned peas, use only the juice of the onion with the sprig of mint.
Drain the peas and place them in a hot serving dish.
Top with 4 teaspoons of butter or margarine.
Serve hot.

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.

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.

Peas + minttop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,137 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,460 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together42,912 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,887 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Onion + minttop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,389 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Peas: Form the main body of the dish and provide its sweet, fresh flavour.
Butter or margarine: Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel as it melts over the hot peas.
Onion: Contributes aromatic flavour to the liquid used with the peas.
Mint: Adds a fresh, aromatic herb note.