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Cauliflower “ Au Gratin.”

A baked cauliflower dish topped with melted butter, Gruyère, Parmesan, bread crumbs, and baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,041 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cauliflower “ Au Gratin.”

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

  1. Boil the cauliflower until it is two-thirds cooked, then divide it into branches.

  2. In a bowl, mix melted butter with Gruyère and Parmesan cheese.

Assemble and bake

  1. In a baking dish, place a layer of cauliflower, then cover with the cheese sauce.

  2. Add another layer of cauliflower and another layer of cheese sauce.

  3. Sprinkle a little cheese and bread crumbs over the top, then pour hot butter over it.

  4. 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. Cheese + parmesan cheesetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,041 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

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

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

  5. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower
Forms the bulk of the dish and becomes tender while baking.
Gruyère cheese
Melts into the sauce, providing creamy texture and savory flavor.
Parmesan cheese
Adds sharp, salty flavor and helps the top brown.
Melted butter
Carries the cheese into a smooth sauce and adds richness to the top layer.
Bread crumbs
Forms a crisp, golden topping when baked.

The step that matters

Pour the butter over the top before baking. Hot melted butter coats the bread crumbs so they brown evenly and crisp rather than staying pale or soggy in the oven.

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cheese, parmesan cheese, bread):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cheese, parmesan cheese, bread. 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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