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Artichoke Puree, for Garniture

A creamy artichoke puree used as a garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Artichoke and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 156 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Artichoke Puree, for Garniture

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the artichokes

  1. Prepare the artichokes as in the previous recipe.

  2. Drain the cooked artichokes and place them in a saucepan with butter.

  3. Toss the artichokes lightly over the heat.

Make the puree

  1. Add the cream sauce and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and sugar.

  2. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve.

  3. Transfer the puree to a flat saucepan and add the double cream.

  4. Reduce the puree to the desired consistency.

Keep warm and serve

  1. Place the puree in a Bain-Marie with a little butter on top to prevent a crust.

  2. Keep warm in a hot water bath until ready to serve.

  3. Before serving, add a piece of butter and stir until melted.

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. Artichoke + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together156 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Artichoke + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,170 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Artichokes
Form the bulk of the puree, providing the main flavour and body.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the artichokes and finished puree.
Cream sauce
Gives the puree a smooth, rich body and carries the seasoning.
Double cream
Adds fat for a smoother, more velvety texture when reduced.

The step that matters

Reducing the puree to the desired consistency. Cooking the puree gently over heat evaporates water and thickens it. Too little reduction leaves it thin, while too much can make it stiff and dull in flavour, so it must be checked as it thickens.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (artichoke, butter, cream, pepper, sugar):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Cinnamonfits less well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against artichoke, butter, cream, pepper, sugar. 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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