Why it works: Endive and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 111 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Gravy of Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Wash and clean the Endive, removing the outer leaves.
Blanch the heads in hot water, then transfer to cold water and squeeze dry.
Stew the Endive in enough gravy to cover them, adding sugar and salt.
When tender, add white sauce or consomme and serve hot.
In a separate pan, melt butter and add chopped young onions.
Once dry, sprinkle with flour and add seasoned gravy.
Let it stew gently for about 10 minutes and serve on sippets.
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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Endive + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together111 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Endive + buttertop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together204 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Swap the endive
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, flour):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Endivethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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