Why it works: Carrot and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,083 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Carrots, Braised
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the carrots by cutting them into slices lengthwise and then into strips or desired shapes.
Bring the carrots to a boil in water to cover, then drain them.
Braise and serve
In a pot, melt 2 ounces of butter over medium heat and sweat the carrots for 10 minutes.
Add 1½ cups of stock, cover, and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour, basting often and adding more stock if needed.
Once tender, arrange the carrots in a pyramid on a serving dish and pour the gravy over them after seasoning to taste.
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.
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Carrot + buttertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,083 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Carrots
- Form the main body of the dish and become tender and sweet during braising.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps sweat the carrots gently before the stock is added.
- Stock
- Provides liquid for braising, keeping the carrots moist and forming the gravy.
The step that matters
Adding stock and braising slowly. The carrots need enough liquid and gentle heat to become tender without drying out or scorching. Basting and topping up stock keeps the pot moist, while covering traps steam that cooks the carrots evenly.
“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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