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Savory Rice

A buttery rice dish simmered in gravy, flavored with nutmeg and Parmesan, served with optional meat croquettes, stewed tomatoes, or bacon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,065 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Savory Rice

Ingredients

Directions

Make the rice

  1. In a skillet, fry the chopped onion in butter until golden.

  2. Stir in the rice and cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly.

  3. Add the gravy and let it simmer slowly.

  4. When nearly cooked, mix in nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.

  5. Let it stand for a few minutes off the heat.

Finish and serve

  1. Just before serving, stir in an additional tablespoon of butter.

  2. Serve garnished with meat croquettes, stewed tomatoes, or fried bacon.

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.

  1. Rice + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,065 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Rice
Forms the body of the dish, absorbing gravy and softening as it simmers.
Gravy
Supplies the liquid and savory flavor that the rice absorbs as it cooks.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor, and helps the onion turn golden.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aroma when fried until golden.
Parmesan cheese
Adds salty, savory depth and helps the dish taste rich.

The step that matters

Simmering the rice in gravy. Simmer slowly and watch the liquid, since rice that cooks too fast or dries out can turn unevenly soft or stick to the pan. Stirring during cooking helps the grains cook evenly and release starch for a creamier texture.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, butter, rice, parmesan cheese, pepper, meat, tomato):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, butter, rice, parmesan cheese, pepper, meat, tomato. 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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