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Asparagus Tops, Colbert

A dish of asparagus pieces tossed in butter and Allemande sauce, served with heads on top and garnished with poached eggs and glaze.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,968 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Tops, Colbert

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the asparagus by cutting it into 1-inch pieces, keeping the heads separate.

Cook and sauce

  1. In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the asparagus pieces and toss gently over a brisk fire.

  3. Stir in the Allemande sauce and season with salt and pepper.

Serve

  1. Serve the stalks first, placing the heads on top.

  2. Garnish with poached eggs and add a few drops of glaze on each egg.

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. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Asparagus + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Provides the main vegetable body and fresh green flavor of the dish.
Butter
Adds richness and carries flavor while the asparagus cooks gently.
Allemande sauce
Adds a creamy, rich coating that gives moisture and a smooth texture.

The step that matters

Toss the asparagus over a brisk fire. Tossing over high heat cooks the spears quickly so they stay tender-crisp and bright green. Overcooking softens the cell walls and dulls the color.

Swap the asparagus

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusthe original
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sauce, pepper, egg. 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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