Name: Artichokes
Ingredients: small tender artichokes; vinegar; water; coarse sea salt; white pepper; ice

Why it works: Artichoke and vinegar work together. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 381 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Artichokes

Ingredients

Directions

Pull off the leaves of the artichokes and remove the hearts from the bottom.
Soak the hearts in a mixture of vinegar and water for at least 30 minutes.
Wipe the hearts dry with a clean cloth.
Arrange the hearts in a serving dish, lightly salt, and pepper them with white pepper.
Add small bits of ice among the artichokes and serve.

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.

Artichoke + vinegartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together381 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vinegar + white peppertop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,154 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Artichoke + white peppertop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together31 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).