Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Onion Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the base
Cook the onions in boiling salted water until soft, then drain and force through a sieve to obtain 1¼ cups of onion pulp.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour, and gradually pour in the water and cream.
Add the onion pulp and bring the mixture to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, then mix them into the onion mixture.
Bake and serve
Beat the egg whites until stiff and dry, then gently fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish and bake for 25 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Serve immediately.
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.
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they trap air and lift the soufflé as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Beaten in, they enrich the base and help it set into a custard-like texture.
- Flour
- Cooked with butter into a roux that thickens the liquid and gives the base body.
- Onion pulp
- Supplies the main flavor and moisture of the soufflé base.
- Butter
- Enriches the roux and adds richness and flavor to the base.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently. Stiff whites hold the air that makes the soufflé rise. Vigorous stirring deflates the foam, so the mixture is folded with a light hand to keep as much air as possible.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, cream, pepper, egg):
- Spinachfits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, cream, pepper, egg. 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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