Name: A Crab Welsh Rarebit
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon butter; 1 tablespoon flour; 4 tablespoons veal or chicken stock; ½ cup cream; 1 cup crab meat, diced less than ½ inch; 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese; 2 tablespoons sherry; slices of bread, toasted and buttered

Why it works: Crab and meat work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 448 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

A Crab Welsh Rarebit

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

Melt the butter and stir in the flour until smooth to make a white roux.
Gradually add the stock and bring to a boil.
Remove from heat.
Stir in the cream.
Add a pinch of baking soda to the cream.
Stir in the crab meat.
Simmer in hot water for 10 minutes.
Add the Parmesan cheese.
Cook for 1 minute.
Remove from heat.
Stir in the sherry.

Assemble and broil

Spread the crab mixture on the toasted bread slices.
Cover with more cheese.
Place under a broiler for 3 minutes to melt the cheese.
Serve immediately.

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.

Crab + meattop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Parmesan cheese + sherrytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together99 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Cream + crabtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together317 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

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

What each ingredient does

Butter: Enriches the roux and adds richness and flavor to the sauce.
Flour: Forms a roux with the butter that thickens the sauce.
Cream: Adds body and moisture, giving the sauce a smooth, rich texture.
Crab meat: Provides the main seafood flavor and bulk in the topping.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory flavor and melts and browns under the broiler.
Sherry: Adds aroma and a touch of acidity and sweetness to the sauce.

The step that matters

Remove from heat before adding the cream and cheese. Adding dairy and cheese to a very hot sauce can cause them to curdle or turn grainy, so the sauce should be taken off the heat first and combined gently.

“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.

Brown Bread461 recipes

Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes

White Bread80 recipes

Bread Omelette60 recipes

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A Crab Welsh Rarebit