Name: Asparagus and Cheese
Ingredients: Tender parts of asparagus; Salted water; Grated cheese; Butter

Why it works: Cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Asparagus and Cheese

Ingredients

Tender parts of asparagus
Salted water
Grated cheese
Butter

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Boil the tender parts of asparagus in salted water until tender.
In a shallow baking dish, spread a layer of grated cheese and butter.
Add a layer of the cooked asparagus on top of the cheese and butter.
Continue layering with cheese and butter, finishing with a layer of cheese and butter on top.
Bake in the oven at 400°F (200°C) until browned.

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.

Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Asparagus + cheesetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together219 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,026 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).