Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
String Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the strings from the beans.
Place the beans in a pot and cover with water.
Simmer gently until tender, then drain.
Serve with melted butter or white sauce.
Alternatively, break beans into small pieces and cook in a small amount of water.
Allow the water to evaporate as the beans cook.
Add sweet cream and season with salt and pepper.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,733 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beans + saucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,184 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sauce, cream, pepper):
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Beansthe original
- Almondfits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sauce, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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