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Cauliflower “Pasticciato.”

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 233 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cauliflower “Pasticciato.”

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Half-boil the cauliflower in salted water, then drain quickly.

  2. Place the cauliflower stalk side up in a saucepan lined with ham slices.

  3. Fill gaps with the minced meat mixed with soaked bread crumbs, onion, parsley, and herbs.

  4. Pour a little gravy over the mixture and cook slowly to avoid excess moisture.

  5. Turn out onto a hot dish, remove the ham, and serve on toast or fried bread.

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. Cauliflower + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together233 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Cauliflower + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together935 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Ham + meattop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, meat, bread, onion, parsley):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, meat, bread, onion, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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