Name: Condoles Aux Epinards {Spinach Gondolas}
Ingredients: 2 to 3 lbs spinach; 2 oz butter; 1 shallot, finely chopped; 1 tablespoon flour; salt, to taste; pepper, to taste; nutmeg, to taste; ¼ cup cream; gravy, as needed; short crust or rough puff paste, for lining moulds; rice, for filling; hard-boiled egg, for garnish; baked nouille paste, for garnish

Why it works: Spinach and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 198 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

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.

Spinach + shallottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together198 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Spinach + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together603 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Shallot + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,019 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Shallot + flourtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,081 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Spinach + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,400 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Spinach: Forms the bulk of the filling and gives the boats their green colour and earthy flavour.
Butter: Fat that enriches the spinach mixture and carries the shallot's flavour.
Flour: Thickens the butter and spinach mixture so it holds its shape in the pastry boats.
Cream: Adds richness and a smoother, softer texture to the spinach filling.
Short crust or rough puff paste: Pastry shell that holds the filling and bakes to a crisp, golden base.

The step that matters

Rub the spinach through a fine sieve. Cooked spinach holds a lot of water; pressing it smooth removes excess liquid and fibrous texture, so the filling stays thick rather than watery and runny inside the baked pastry.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (spinach, butter, flour, pepper, nutmeg, cream, rice):

Leekfits about as well
Shallotthe original
Chivefits about as well
Okrafits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against spinach, butter, flour, pepper, nutmeg, cream, rice. 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.

Condoles Aux Epinards {Spinach Gondolas}