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Scolloped Salsify

A dish of sautéed salsify in butter, cream, and anchovy sauce, baked in scallop shells with breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Scolloped Salsify

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the salsify

  1. Scrape the salsify and cut into 1.5‑inch pieces.

  2. Soak the pieces in vinegar and water.

  3. Boil in salted water until tender. Drain.

Make the filling

  1. Melt butter in a pan. Fry the salsify over high heat.

  2. Season with nutmeg and pepper.

  3. Add cream, parsley, and anchovy sauce. Mix well.

Bake and serve

  1. Fill buttered scallop shells with the mixture.

  2. Top with breadcrumbs, a few drops of lemon juice, and melted butter. Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.

  3. Serve.

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.

  1. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Salsify
Forms the tender, mild-flavoured body of the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the salsify brown lightly in the pan and on top.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness so the filling stays creamy rather than dry.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, browned topping during baking.
Anchovy sauce
Adds a savoury, salty depth that enhances the other flavours.

The step that matters

Boil in salted water until tender. Salsify must be fully tender before frying, because it stays fibrous and firm if undercooked, and the filling will not turn soft and creamy after baking.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, butter, pepper, cream, parsley, anchovy, sauce):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, butter, pepper, cream, parsley, anchovy, sauce. 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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