Name: Crab Meat Au Gratin
Ingredients: ½ pound crab meat; 2 tablespoons butter; 3 tablespoons thick cream; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste; Equal parts cheese gratings and 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 ↓

Crab Meat Au Gratin

Ingredients

Directions

Make the crab mixture

In a saucepan, combine crab meat, butter, and thick cream.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Bake

Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and cover it evenly with cheese gratings and bread crumbs.
Bake for 20 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).
Crab + meattop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Crab meat: Forms the main body of the dish and provides its savory seafood flavor.
Butter: Adds richness and fat that carries flavor and helps the mixture feel smooth.
Thick cream: Adds moisture and richness, helping the crab mixture stay creamy when baked.
Cheese gratings: Melts and browns on top, adding savory flavor and a golden crust.
Bread crumbs: Forms a crisp, browned topping that contrasts with the creamy interior.

“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.