Name: Polenta a LA Napolitaine
Ingredients: 6 ounces of butter; 2 ounces of fresh butter; 6 slices of fat bacon; 12 small birds (such as larks), properly cleaned; 2 bay leaves; ½ pint of good broth; ⅓ cup of white wine; Salt and pepper to taste; Grated parmesan cheese

Why it works: White wine and parmesan cheese work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 697 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Polenta a LA Napolitaine

Ingredients

Directions

Melt 6 ounces of butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
Prepare polenta as previously instructed; when nearly cooked, add 2 ounces of fresh butter and stir well.
In a well-buttered sauté pan, cook 6 slices of fat bacon.
Add 12 cleaned small birds and 2 bay leaves to the pan.
Fry the birds until nicely colored, then moisten with ½ pint of broth and ⅓ cup of white wine.
Season with salt and pepper, cover, and simmer gently until the birds are cooked, basting and turning as needed.
Once the polenta is done, spread it on a dish and top with grated parmesan cheese.
Place the cooked birds on top, strain the gravy over, and serve.

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.

White wine + parmesan cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together697 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,083 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,163 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Pepper + parmesan cheesetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,322 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
White wine + peppertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,433 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).