Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Milan Sandwiches
Ingredients
Directions
Toast the bread slices lightly and spread one side with butter.
Spread a layer of stiff tartare sauce on the buttered side.
Layer slices of cooked game and finely shredded celery on top.
Press two slices together, trim the edges neatly, and cut into desired shapes.
Arrange the sandwiches in a circle on a plate.
Garnish with diced aspic jelly and small salad.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Bread + celerytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,110 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Bread + saucetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,934 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sauce + celerytop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,360 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, sauce):
- Capersfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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