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Gratinated Cauliflowers

A baked dish of cauliflower topped with butter, cheeses, breadcrumbs, and melted butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and gruyere cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 152 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Gratinated Cauliflowers

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the cauliflower

  1. Trim the leaves from the cauliflowers, leaving only the centers.

  2. Boil the cauliflowers in water until they are about two-thirds cooked, then drain and divide into sprigs.

Assemble and bake

  1. Layer the cauliflowers in a gratin dish, covering each layer with a mixture of melted butter and the cheeses.

  2. Sprinkle a little cheese and breadcrumbs on top, then pour warmed butter over it.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done and golden.

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. Parmesan cheese + gruyere cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together152 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Butter + gruyere cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together323 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Cauliflower + parmesan cheesetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together138 recipes

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

  5. Cauliflower + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together823 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cauliflowers
Form the bulk of the dish and carry the texture once baked.
Melted butter
Adds richness and moisture, helping the top brown in the oven.
Grated parmesan cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savory, nutty flavor.
Grated gruyere cheese
Melts into a smooth, stretchy layer and adds savory flavor.
Breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust on the surface.

The step that matters

Par-boil the cauliflower to two-thirds cooked. Cauliflower releases water as it bakes, so stopping the boil early keeps it from turning soggy while still letting it finish tender in the oven.

Swap the cauliflower

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

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

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