Why it works: Peas and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,005 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Pea Puree
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the flour smooth in a little cold water.
Add the flour mixture to the peas.
Cook and serve
Cook in a double boiler for fifteen minutes.
If desired, stir in lemon or tomato juice before serving.
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.
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Peas + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,005 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Peas + flourtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,837 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sifted peas
- Form the bulk and body of the puree.
- White flour
- Thickens the puree as its starch swells when heated.
- Lemon or tomato juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the puree.
The step that matters
Smooth the flour in cold water first. Starch clumps when it meets hot liquid unmixed. Dispersing the flour in cold water lets each granule hydrate evenly, so the puree thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (peas, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Pumpkinfits better
- Cherryfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against peas, flour. 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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