Name: Braised Lettuce for Garnishing
Ingredients: several small heads of cabbage-lettuce; chicken farce; strong white broth

Why it works: Cabbage and lettuce match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 622 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Braised Lettuce for Garnishing

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

several small heads of cabbage-lettuce
chicken farce
strong white broth

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.

Remove the outside leaves from the cabbage-lettuce and trim them to a uniform size.
Carefully pull the leaves apart without detaching them from the stem.
Stuff the cavity with chicken farce and replace the leaves.
Wrap each head in a piece of cheesecloth.
Arrange the wrapped heads in a sauté pan and moisten with strong white broth.
Cover and braise in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Remove from the cloth, cut into quarters, glaze, and serve as a garnish for meat entrees or as a vegetable.

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.

Cabbage + lettucetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together622 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lettuce + chickentop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,421 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Cabbage + chickentop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together436 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).