Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Beoad Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the young beans until tender.
Drain the beans and place them in a saucepan.
Add butter and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and sugar.
Toss over heat until heated through and serve.
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.
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beans + nutmegtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together267 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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
- Young beans
- Provide the main body and tender texture of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and giving the beans a silky coating.
- Sugar
- Adds a touch of sweetness that balances the savoury seasonings.
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, nutmeg, sugar):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Walnutfits better
- Beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, nutmeg, 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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