Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Cauliflower Au Gratin
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the cauliflower
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove the leaves from the cauliflower.
Boil the cauliflower in salted water until tender.
Make the cheese sauce
In a saucepan, melt the butter.
Stir in the flour. Cook the mixture for 1 minute.
Gradually add the milk. Stir until the sauce thickens.
Add salt, pepper, and half of the cheese to the sauce.
Bake and serve
Place the cooked cauliflower in a baking dish.
Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower.
Sprinkle breadcrumbs and remaining cheese on top.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cauliflower + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,113 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cauliflower + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together569 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cauliflower
- Forms the main body of the gratin and becomes tender when boiled.
- Milk
- Liquid that, heated with flour and butter, forms the sauce.
- Butter
- Fat that carries flavour and helps form the roux with the flour.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce when cooked with butter.
- Grated cheese
- Adds rich flavour and creates a melting, stretchy texture in the sauce and topping.
The step that matters
Cook the flour in the butter before adding the milk. Cooking the butter and flour together for a minute forms a roux, which removes the raw starchy taste and helps the sauce thicken smoothly without lumps when the milk is added gradually.
Swap the cauliflower
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, flour, cheese, pepper):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Cauliflowerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, flour, cheese, pepper. 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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