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Asparagus-peas, a LA Creme

A creamy asparagus and pea dish cooked with butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg yolks, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and peas match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 808 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus-peas, a LA Creme

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the peas

  1. Boil a quart of asparagus-peas in plenty of water with a handful of coarse sea salt, ensuring the water boils before adding the peas.

  2. Drain the peas in a colander, immerse them in cold water for 3 minutes, then drain again on a sieve.

Make the cream sauce

  1. In a stewpan, combine the peas with a small bundle of green onions and parsley, 2 ounces of butter, 1 tablespoon of pounded sugar, a little grated nutmeg, and salt.

  2. Cover and simmer gently over low heat for 10 minutes.

  3. Remove the bundle of parsley; if any liquid remains, boil it down quickly.

  4. Incorporate 2 small pats of fresh butter and a mixture of 4 egg yolks with ½ cup cream into the peas.

  5. Toss the peas over low heat to set the egg mixture, then serve in a dome shape with a border of fleurons.

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. Asparagus + peastop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together808 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Asparagus + nutmegtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together252 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus-peas
Form the main body of the dish, giving it its bulk and mild, sweet flavour.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the peas as they simmer.
Egg yolks
Thicken the cream when gently heated, setting the peas into a coating sauce.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, combining with the yolks to form a smooth custard-like coating.
Pounded sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the savoury notes of the peas and butter.

The step that matters

Setting the egg mixture over low heat. Egg yolks thicken at gentle temperatures but curdle if overheated. Tossing the peas over low heat sets the custard smoothly into a coating rather than scrambling it.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, cream):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Hazelnutfits better
  3. Pistachiofits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, cream. 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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