Why it works: Peas and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,887 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Peas in Pod
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Top and tail the peas, removing the strings without waste.
Cook and serve
Boil the peas in salted water for 15 to 20 minutes.
Strain the peas and add the butter.
Serve hot.
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 + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Young green peas
- Form the main body of the dish and supply its fresh, sweet flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness, a glossy finish and a rounder mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Boiling the peas. Young peas cook quickly. Overcooking breaks down their chlorophyll and softens their texture, which dulls the bright green color and makes them mushy.
“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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