Why it works: Asparagus and bread work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 363 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Boil Asparagus
Ingredients
Directions
With a sharp knife, lightly scrape the stems of the asparagus from one to two inches of the green tender points.
Place the cleaned asparagus in cold water until ready.
Tie the asparagus in bunches of equal size and cut the large ends evenly.
Bring plenty of water to a boil.
Toast a slice of bread, half an inch thick, on both sides until golden brown.
When the asparagus is tender, remove it from the boiling water immediately to preserve color and flavor.
Quickly dip the toasted bread into the boiling water before serving.
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.
-
Asparagus + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together363 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
More boiled asparagus recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Asparagus Soup179 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Asparagus Salad77 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.