Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Stuffed Cucumbers
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.
Cut cucumbers in half and remove the seeds.
Fill the halves with minced meat mixed with fine crumbs, salt, butter, and cayenne.
Press two filled halves together and bind with soft string.
Place in a bake-pan and cover with stock.
Cover and cook in a 350°F (175°C) oven for one hour.
Remove strings, keep warm over boiling water.
Thicken the pan gravy with a roux of browned flour and boil once.
Pour the gravy around the cucumbers and serve.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cucumber + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Cucumber + chickentop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Cucumber + buttertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,185 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, 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
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, flour):
- Leekfits better
- Potatofits better
- Shallotfits better
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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