Name: To Boil Cauliflowers
Ingredients: 1 head of cauliflower; coarse sea salt; water; cream; butter

Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

To Boil Cauliflowers

Ingredients

Directions

Select compact, white cauliflowers and remove decayed leaves.
Cut the stalk flat at the bottom and soak the cauliflowers head down in a strong saltwater solution for 1 hour to remove insects.
Drain the cauliflowers in a colander and place them in a saucepan with plenty of boiling water.
Keep the pan uncovered and boil the cauliflowers quickly until tender, about 20 minutes.
Skim the water clean, then remove the cauliflowers with a slotted spoon.
Serve with a cream sauce made by mixing melted butter with cream just before serving to prevent curdling.

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.

Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cauliflower + buttertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together823 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Cauliflower + creamtop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together284 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).