Name: Stewed Asparagus
Ingredients: Asparagus; Salt; Pepper; Vinegar

Why it works: Asparagus and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,968 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stewed Asparagus

Ingredients

Asparagus
Salt
Pepper
Vinegar

Directions

Cut the asparagus into lengths of about 2 inches.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add salt, pepper, and vinegar.
Add the asparagus and cook until soft.

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.

Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,968 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Asparagus + vinegartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together439 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).