Name: Stuffed Cucumbers
Ingredients: 4 young cucumbers; ½ cup chopped roast beef; ½ cup minced boiled ham; ¼ cup fine bread crumbs; 2 tablespoons melted butter; Salt and pepper to taste; 1 cup skimmed beef stock

Why it works: Bread and butter 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 ↓

Stuffed Cucumbers

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cucumbers

Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds.
Mix the roast beef, minced ham, and bread crumbs in a bowl.
Moisten the mixture with melted butter and season with salt and pepper.
Fill the hollows of the cucumbers with the stuffing and press together.
Tie the halves with soft twine.

Cook and serve

Place in a roasting pan and pour the beef stock around them.
Cook until tender.
Remove the twine, transfer to a hot platter, and thicken the gravy in the pan before pouring it over the cucumbers.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cucumber + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,991 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,032 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Young cucumbers: Form the edible shell that holds the stuffing and softens when cooked until tender.
Roast beef: Supplies the savory meaty flavour that forms the core of the stuffing.
Boiled ham: Adds a salty, savory note to the stuffing alongside the beef.
Bread crumbs: Absorb the melted butter and help bind the stuffing so it holds together.
Melted butter: Moistens the stuffing and adds richness to the filling.
Skimmed beef stock: Braises the cucumbers and forms the base of the gravy.