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Scalloped Salsifi or Jerusalem Artichokes

A baked dish of Jerusalem artichokes in a butter‑flour‑milk sauce, optionally topped with cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Jerusalem artichoke and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 116 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Scalloped Salsifi or Jerusalem Artichokes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the vegetable

  1. Boil the salsify or Jerusalem artichoke until cooked.

  2. Cut it into pieces the size of an oyster.

Make the sauce

  1. In a saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour to make a roux.

  2. Gradually add the milk, stirring until thickened.

  3. Season with salt and pepper.

Assemble and bake

  1. Place the salsify in a baking dish, pour the sauce over it, and top with grated cheese if desired.

  2. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until golden and bubbly.

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. Jerusalem artichoke + flourtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together116 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

What each ingredient does

Salsify or jerusalem artichoke
Forms the tender, mild vegetable base that holds the sauce.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, and starts the roux that thickens the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce when cooked with the butter.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding moisture and creaminess.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.

The step that matters

Stirring the milk into the roux. Adding milk gradually while stirring keeps the flour evenly dispersed, so the sauce thickens smoothly without lumps.

Swap the jerusalem artichoke

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, pepper, cheese):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Jerusalem artichokethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, pepper, cheese. 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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