Why it works: Lettuce and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,019 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Braised Lettuces
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the first leaves from the lettuces and wash them thoroughly, changing the water several times.
Plunge the lettuces into boiling water and boil for 5 to 6 minutes.
Remove the lettuces with a skimmer and refresh them in cold water.
Press the lettuces between your hands to extract moisture and fold them at the ends.
Arrange the lettuces side by side in a stewpan lined with bacon.
Season the lettuces and moisten them with unskimmed broth.
Cover with a greased round of paper and braise on low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes, placing hot ashes on the lid.
Once done, the moisture should be reduced to a glaze; drain the lettuces.
Dish them up and pour a little good gravy or brown sauce over them.
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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Lettuce + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,019 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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