Skip to main content
Main

Scalloped Salsifits

Scalloped salsifits are baked salsify pieces seasoned with butter, cream, nutmeg, cayenne, parsley, anchovy sauce, and topped with breadcrumbs and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Scalloped Salsifits

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the salsify

  1. Scrape the salsify.

  2. Cut the salsify into 1.5-inch pieces.

  3. Soak the pieces in a mixture of vinegar and water.

  4. Boil the salsify in salted water until tender.

  5. Drain the salsify.

Season and fill

  1. Broil the salsify in butter over high heat.

  2. Season with nutmeg, cayenne pepper, cream, parsley and anchovy sauce.

  3. Fill buttered scallop shells with the mixture.

Top and bake

  1. Top with bread crumbs.

  2. Sprinkle with lemon juice.

  3. Add small pieces of butter.

  4. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.

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. Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Salsify
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender when boiled and then broiled in butter.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the salsify brown when broiled, and tops the dish for browning in the oven.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, binding the seasoned salsify into a soft, creamy filling.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden topping through browning in the oven.
Anchovy sauce
Adds savoury depth, a salty umami note that rounds out the creamy filling.

The step that matters

Broil the salsify in butter over high heat. Salsify can turn dry or stick if it browns too fast. Drain it well first so surface water does not steam it, and watch the butter so the pieces colour lightly without burning.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, butter, pepper, cream, parsley, anchovy, sauce):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, butter, pepper, cream, parsley, anchovy, sauce. 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.

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesLemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesWhite BreadWhite Bread80 recipesBread OmeletteBread Omelette60 recipes