Why it works: Beans and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 292 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Small Vegetable Cbusts, Macedoine Style
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the moulds
Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
Grease the timbal molds with butter and dust them with flour.
Roll out the pâte paste and line the molds with it, filling them with flour.
Cover the molds with a layer of paste, create a border around the top, and baste with egg yolk mixed with water.
Bake and finish the crusts
Bake in the oven until cooked, then cut out the covers without damaging the borders.
Remove the flour and baste the inside and outside of the crusts with egg yolks.
Place the crusts back in the oven to dry.
Fill and serve
Add a reduced Allemande or cream sauce before filling.
Fill the crusts with the macedoine of vegetables, either mixed or separately.
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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Beans + asparagustop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together292 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Peas + asparagustop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together808 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + carrottop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,443 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Peas + beanstop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together949 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Asparagus + carrottop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together571 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pâte paste
- Forms the baked shell that holds the filling and sets firm when cooked.
- Egg yolk
- Basting glaze that gives the crust a golden, glossy colour and helps it brown.
- Macedoine of vegetables
- Provides the main filling, adding colour, texture and freshness to the crusts.
- Reduced allemande or cream sauce
- Adds richness and moisture to the filling, softening the crust and binding the vegetables.
The step that matters
Cutting out the covers without damaging the borders. Once baked, the pastry is brittle and can crack; a border that breaks lets the filling leak and weakens the shell, so the cut must be made carefully.
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, peas, beans, asparagus, cream):
- Leekfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Chivefits better
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, peas, beans, asparagus, cream. 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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