Name: Puree of Green Peas
Ingredients: 2 cups thick green peas; 2 tablespoons butter; ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; 1 bunch parsley; ½ cup broth; 1 teaspoon sugar

Why it works: Peas and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,885 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Puree of Green Peas

Ingredients

Directions

Boil the peas in broth or water until tender.
Add butter and salt, then pass through a sieve.
Boil the parsley in water, then chop finely.
Mix the peas with parsley, broth, sugar, and a little salt.
Stir on the fire until heated through.

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.

Peas + parsleytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,885 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28,563 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,887 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Peas + sugartop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,928 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Green peas: Form the main body of the puree, giving it bulk and a soft, smooth texture when sieved.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a silkier mouthfeel to the puree.
Parsley: Contributes fresh, herbal aroma and green colour to the puree.
Broth: Adds liquid so the peas can be blended to a loose, spoonable consistency and adds savoury flavour.
Sugar: Adds a small amount of sweetness that balances the vegetable flavour.