Name: Boiled Turnips, Plain
Ingredients: Turnips; Water or broth; 2 tablespoons butter; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; a pinch of sugar

Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Boiled Turnips, Plain

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Pare the turnips and cut them into four or six pieces.
Trim the edges and parboil them for three minutes.

Boil and serve

In a saucepan, cover the turnips with water or broth.
Add the butter, salt, and sugar, then cover the saucepan.
Boil until the turnips are thoroughly cooked.
Drain and serve with a little butter on top.

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.

Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Turnip + buttertop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,100 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Turnip + sugartop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,330 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Turnips: The main vegetable; they soften as they cook, giving the dish its body and texture.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, carrying flavor and giving the turnips a smooth finish.
Sugar: Adds a little sweetness that softens the turnips' natural sharpness.