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To Boil Spinach

Spinach boiled with salt, butter, and cream, then served in squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

To Boil Spinach

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pick the spinach carefully and wash it thoroughly in cold water two or three times.

Cook and drain

  1. Boil the spinach in salted water for nearly 20 minutes.

  2. Drain the spinach in a colander and rinse it under cold water for 1 minute.

Finish and serve

  1. Transfer the spinach to a saucepan and beat it smooth with a wooden spoon.

  2. Add a bit of butter and 3 tablespoons of cream, mixing well.

  3. Heat the mixture before serving and score it in squares with the back of a knife.

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

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

  2. Spinach + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

  3. Spinach + buttertop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,583 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Fresh spinach
Provides the main body and green flavour of the dish.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich mouthfeel and flavour.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture, giving the beaten spinach a softer, silkier texture.

The step that matters

Boil the spinach in salted water for nearly 20 minutes. Spinach needs enough time in boiling water to soften fully so it can be beaten smooth; undercooked leaves stay fibrous and grainy. Thorough washing first matters because grit clings to the leaves and stays in the purée.

Swap the spinach

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

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Onionfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Spinachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, 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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