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Cauliflower Au Gratin

A baked cauliflower dish topped with cream sauce, cheese, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cauliflower Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the cauliflower

  1. Dress the cauliflower.

  2. Place it in a saucepan with salt and peppercorns.

  3. Cover the cauliflower with cold water.

  4. Boil for 30 minutes.

  5. Drain the cauliflower.

Assemble and bake

  1. Place it in a baking dish.

  2. Pour cream sauce over the cauliflower.

  3. Stir in 3 tablespoons of grated cheese.

  4. Sprinkle 3 more tablespoons of cheese on top.

  5. Add a light layer of bread crumbs.

  6. Set in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

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. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  2. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

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

  4. Cauliflower + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together223 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Sauce + cheesetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,987 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower
Forms the main body of the dish and becomes tender after boiling.
Cream sauce
Adds moisture and a creamy texture that surrounds the cauliflower.
Grated cheese
Melts into the sauce and browns on top for flavour and colour.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden top layer when baked.

The step that matters

Bake until golden brown. The top should brown in the oven, not just heat through. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction in the bread crumbs and cheese, which needs dry surface heat. Watch the colour as well as the timer.

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sauce, cheese, bread):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Onionfits better
  4. Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sauce, cheese, bread. 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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