Why it works: Onion and mustard match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,259 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Tripe a LA Kilkenny
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the tripe into square pieces.
Peel and wash the onions, then cut each into halves.
Cook
Boil the onions in water until tender.
Add the tripe and boil for 10 minutes.
Pour off most of the liquid, then stir in the flour and butter.
Season with salt and mustard, and mix until the butter melts.
Serve
Transfer to a dish and serve hot, garnished with lemon or barberries.
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.
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Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mustard + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,816 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,066 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter 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
- Tripe
- Forms the main body of the dish, giving it its chewy, substantial texture.
- Onions
- Provide sweetness and soft body as they cook down until tender.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid, helping bind the dish into a coating consistency.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel to the thickened liquid.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, flour, butter, mustard):
- Avocadofits better
- Coconutfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, flour, butter, mustard. 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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