Name: Canned String-beans
Ingredients: 1 can of string beans; ½ cup of butter; ¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt; ⅛ teaspoon of black pepper

Why it works: Beans and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,733 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Canned String-beans

Ingredients

1 can of string beans
½ cup of butter
¼ teaspoon of coarse sea salt
⅛ teaspoon of black pepper

Directions

Prepare

Open the can of beans.
Drain the beans.
Wash the beans in cold water.

Cook

If the beans are not tender, cook them in salted boiling water until soft.
Drain the beans.

Finish and serve

Add the butter, salt, and pepper to the beans.
Heat the mixture.
Serve hot.

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.

Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,733 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beans + buttertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,799 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 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

String beans: The main vegetable, providing the bulk and texture of the dish; cooking softens it.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, coating the beans and giving them a smooth, flavourful finish.