Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Green Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peas
Slice the onion.
Fry the sliced onion for a few minutes.
Add the peas, sugar, salt, and pepper to taste.
Once the peas begin to boil, add the butter.
Add the egg and milk
Beat the milk and egg together in a separate dish.
Pour the peas into the milk and egg mixture, stirring as you pour.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 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
- Peas (in the method)
- Make up the bulk of the dish and provide its main body and fresh, sweet flavour.
- Egg
- Helps bind and lightly thicken the dish as it sets with gentle heat.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness, diluting the egg for a smoother texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and giving a smooth mouthfeel.
- Onion
- Frying softens it and adds savoury aroma to the peas.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the savoury onion and seasoning.
The step that matters
Pouring the peas into the egg and milk. Hot peas can scramble the egg if it meets them all at once. Pouring slowly while stirring spreads the heat evenly, so the egg thickens smoothly instead of forming lumps.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pepper, butter, milk, egg):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pepper, butter, milk, egg. 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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