Name: Cauliflower, with Cheese
Ingredients: 1 head cauliflower; salt; 2 tablespoons butter; ¼ cup grated cheese; ¼ cup bread crumbs

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 ↓

Cauliflower, with Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Boil the cauliflower in salted water until tender.
Place the cauliflower in a baking dish.

Assemble and bake

Pour a browned butter sauce mixed with grated cheese over the cauliflower.
Sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 10 minutes.

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).
Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cauliflower + breadtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together223 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Cauliflower + cheesetop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together171 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower: Forms the main body of the dish and cooks until tender in salted water.
Butter: Browned to make a nutty sauce that coats the cauliflower and adds richness.
Grated cheese: Melts into the butter sauce, adding savory flavor and a creamy, binding texture.
Bread crumbs: Sprinkled on top to form a crisp layer that browns in the oven.