Why it works: Turnip and kidney beans work together. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and 13 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the vegetables
Butter the inside of a large oblong mold.
Boil carrots and turnips in broth until cooked, then drain.
Boil Savoy cabbage in water until cooked, then drain and squeeze out moisture.
Cut the carrots and turnips into strips and shapes, and arrange them at the bottom of the mold.
Build the mold
Line the sides of the mold with sliced carrots and turnips.
Press a layer of cabbage tightly against the sides.
Stew the quartered partridges in well-seasoned gravy until tender.
Place the stewed partridges in the center of the mold, then add the more delicate vegetables around them.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Turnip + kidney beanstop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together13 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Carrot + turniptop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,001 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + cabbagetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together897 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + peastop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,994 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Carrot + oniontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together21,599 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Partridges
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through slow stewing in gravy.
- Savoy cabbage
- Forms a tight layer against the mold sides, holding its shape once moisture is squeezed out.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and color, and are cut into shapes that line the mold.
- Turnips
- Add mild sweetness and firm texture, cut into strips and shapes for the mold.
- Green peas
- Add a delicate, sweet flavor and bright color around the partridges.
- Kidney beans
- Add body and a firm, starchy texture to the filling.
The step that matters
Squeezing the cabbage. Cabbage holds a lot of water. If it is not well drained, extra moisture will soften the layer and can make the molded shape collapse when turned out.
Flavor stand-ins for the kidney beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, cabbage, peas, onion, butter):
- Beansbetter flavor fit
- Lima beansbetter flavor fit
- Lentilsbetter flavor fit
- Kidney beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, cabbage, peas, onion, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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