Why it works: Butter and peas are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,887 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Sweetbreads Larded, with Stewed Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sweetbreads
Soak the sweetbreads in water for several hours, changing the water frequently.
Scald the sweetbreads in boiling water for 3 minutes, then immerse in cold water for 30 minutes.
Drain the sweetbreads on a napkin and trim them.
Cook and serve
Lard the sweetbreads and cook them in butter until golden brown.
Serve with stewed peas on the side.
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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Butter + peastop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweetbreads
- Main protein; cooking in butter browns their surface and gives a rich, tender bite.
- Butter
- Cooking fat that carries heat to the sweetbreads and browns their surface for flavour.
- Peas
- Served stewed on the side as the accompaniment to the sweetbreads.
The step that matters
Scalding and chilling the sweetbreads. Brief boiling followed by cold water firms the outer membranes and sets the texture, making trimming easier and keeping the meat from turning tough or mushy during browning.
“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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