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Brussels Sprouts

A boiled Brussels sprouts dish seasoned with salt, baking soda, butter, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Brussels Sprouts

Why it works: Butter and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and trim the Brussels sprouts, then soak in cold water with salt for a few minutes.

  2. Drain the sprouts well and place them in a large saucepan of boiling water with baking soda and a little salt.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil quickly until tender, about 20 minutes, then drain thoroughly.

  2. Place the boiled sprouts in a hot dish and serve hot.

  3. If desired, return the drained sprouts to the saucepan with butter and parsley, tossing over gentle heat for a few minutes before serving.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  2. Brussels sprouts + buttertop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together20 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Brussels sprouts + parsleytop 36% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Brussels sprouts
Form the main body of the dish; they soften into tender, mild-tasting vegetable during boiling.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky coating that carries flavor across the sprouts.
Baking soda
Raises the water's alkalinity, which helps the sprouts keep a bright green color while cooking.

The step that matters

Boil quickly until tender. Overcooking breaks down the sprouts' cell walls and releases sulfur compounds, causing a grey color and strong smell. A rapid boil and prompt draining keep them green and fresh-tasting.

Swap the brussels sprouts

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

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Brussels sproutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parsley. 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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