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Asparagus-peas, a LA Creme

A dish of boiled asparagus peas served with a creamy sauce of butter, egg yolks, cream, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and peas match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 808 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus-peas, a LA Creme

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the asparagus peas in plenty of water with salt until tender.

  2. Drain and immerse in cold water for 3 minutes, then drain again.

Cook the peas

  1. In a stewpan, combine the peas, green onions, parsley, butter, sugar, nutmeg, and salt.

  2. Cover and simmer gently over low heat for 10 minutes.

  3. Remove the parsley and boil down any excess liquid.

Finish and serve

  1. Incorporate the fresh butter and a mixture of egg yolks and cream.

  2. Toss over low heat to set the mixture.

  3. Serve shaped like a dome with a border of flourishes.

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.

  1. Asparagus + peastop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together808 recipes

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Asparagus + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,212 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Asparagus + nutmegtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together252 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Asparagus peas
Form the main body of the dish, cooked gently until tender in the buttery liquid.
Egg yolks
Thicken the cream mixture and help it set into a soft, custard-like texture when heated.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, giving the finished mixture a smooth, silky texture.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth mouthfeel that carries the flavor of the peas.
Sugar
Adds a touch of sweetness that balances the savory butter and green flavors.

The step that matters

Toss over low heat to set the mixture. Egg yolks thicken when gently heated but curdle and turn grainy if they get too hot. Low, gentle heat lets the mixture set smooth and creamy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, peas, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, cream):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, peas, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, 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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