Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Small Garniture, Jardiniere
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Cut the carrots and turnips into pieces about ¼ inch long using a column cutter.
Boil the carrots and turnips until tender, then cook them in broth and glaze.
Boil the string beans, flageolet beans, and asparagus tops until tender, then drain.
Combine and season
Mix the boiled vegetables together in equal quantities.
Add Allemande or Espagnole sauce and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and sugar.
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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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Beans + asparagustop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together292 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Turnip + asparagustop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together328 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + beanstop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together400 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + beanstop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,443 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Carrots
- Hold their shape when cut and add sweetness and color to the mix.
- Turnips
- Add a firm texture and mild sweetness that balances the savory sauce.
- Flageolet beans
- Provide a tender, creamy texture that holds up well among the other vegetables.
- String beans
- Contribute crisp-tender texture and fresh green color to the medley.
- Asparagus tops
- Add a delicate, slightly grassy flavor and tender texture.
- Broth
- Adds savory flavor and moisture as the carrots and turnips glaze.
The step that matters
Glazing the carrots and turnips in broth. Cooking the boiled vegetables in broth until the liquid reduces lets sugars and flavor concentrate on their surfaces, giving a glossy coating. If the liquid is allowed to evaporate completely, the vegetables can scorch or dry out.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, beans, asparagus, sauce, pepper, sugar):
- Celeryfits better
- Capersfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, beans, asparagus, sauce, 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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