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Green French Beans

A simple boiled green bean side dish seasoned with tarragon, chervil, and chives.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Tarragon and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Green French Beans

Ingredients

Directions

Cook and cool

  1. Boil the green French beans until tender.

  2. Let them cool.

Dress the beans

  1. Place the cooled beans in a bowl.

  2. Add tarragon, chervil, and chopped chives to the bowl.

  3. Toss gently to combine.

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. Tarragon + cherviltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together824 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Chervil + chivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together370 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Tarragon + chivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together589 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Beans + chivetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together180 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Beans + cherviltop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together60 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Green french beans
Form the bulk of the dish and give it a tender, slightly crisp bite.
Tarragon
Adds a distinctive, slightly anise-like aroma that brightens the beans.
Chervil
Adds a delicate, mild herbal aroma that suits the tender beans.
Chopped chives
Add a mild onion-like freshness and aroma to the beans.

The step that matters

Boil the beans until just tender. Beans cook through as their starches soften, and overcooking turns them soft and dull green. Stopping at tender keeps the bright colour and a pleasant bite once the herbs are added.

Swap the beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tarragon, chervil, chive):

  1. Lentilsfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Beansthe original
  4. Pistachiofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against tarragon, chervil, chive. 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.

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