Name: Cucumbers Stuffed with Mushrooms
Ingredients: 2 large firm cucumbers; ¼ pound fresh mushrooms; 4 tablespoons melted butter; 4 heaping tablespoons grated bread crumbs; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste; Few drops onion juice; 1 egg yolk; Brown sauce (made from mushroom skins and stems, carrot, celery top, green pepper, onion, turnip, butter, flour)

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cucumbers Stuffed with Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 large firm cucumbers
¼ pound fresh mushrooms
4 tablespoons melted butter
4 heaping tablespoons grated bread crumbs
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Few drops onion juice
1 egg yolk
Brown sauce (made from mushroom skins and stems, carrot, celery top, green pepper, onion, turnip, butter, flour)

Directions

Prepare the filling

Peel the cucumbers and cut them in half lengthwise; remove the seeds.
Skin and stem the mushrooms, then chop them finely.
In a skillet, combine the chopped mushrooms with melted butter and a little water; cover and cook until tender.
Remove from heat and stir in bread crumbs, salt, pepper, onion juice, and egg yolk.

Stuff and steam

Stuff the cucumbers with the mushroom mixture, reassemble the halves, and secure with toothpicks or string.
Place in a small dish suitable for steaming, cover, and steam for about 45 minutes until tender.

Make the sauce and serve

For the sauce, boil the mushroom skins and stems in water, then fry sliced carrot, celery, green pepper, onion, and turnip in butter.
Strain the mushroom water into the fried vegetables and stew until tender; strain again.
Add butter and enough flour to thicken the sauce, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Remove strings from cucumbers and serve them in a shallow dish with the sauce poured around.

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,050 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,626 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Cucumbers: Form the edible shell that holds the filling and softens when steamed.
Mushrooms: Provide the savoury, earthy filling that gives the dish its main flavour.
Bread crumbs: Absorb moisture and help bind the mushroom filling so it holds its shape.
Egg yolk: Binds the filling and adds richness so it sets lightly when cooked.
Butter: Adds fat and rich flavour to the filling and to the sauce.

The step that matters

Steaming the stuffed cucumbers. Cucumber is mostly water and can turn soggy or watery if overcooked. Steaming gently, covered, until just tender keeps the shape and avoids a bland, limp texture while the egg yolk in the filling sets.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, butter, bread, pepper, onion, egg, sauce):

Capsicumfits better
Shallotfits better
Chivefits better
Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, butter, bread, pepper, onion, egg, sauce. 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.

Brown Bread461 recipes

Carrot Soup134 recipes

Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes

White Bread80 recipes

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Cucumbers Stuffed with Mushrooms