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Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin

A gratin of Brussels sprouts with white sauce, Parmesan, and croutons.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,294 recipes. Both carry decanoic acid, which smells soapy, waxy. The science ↓

Brussels Sprouts Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Soak the Brussels sprouts in cold water with salt for a few hours before cooking.

  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, adding 1 teaspoon of salt for every quart of water and a pinch of baking soda.

  3. Add the sprouts and boil for 10 minutes, then drain.

Make the sauce

  1. In a bowl, mix ½ pint of white sauce with 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese.

  2. Add 2 tablespoons of the sauce to the sprouts and mix well.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the sprouts on a fried crouton or in the center of a dish.

  2. Pour the remaining sauce over the sprouts and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.

  3. Brown under a broiler, in a 400°F (200°C) oven, or in front of a fire, then serve.

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. Parmesan cheese + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,294 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

  2. Brussels sprouts + parmesan cheesetop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Brussels sprouts + saucetop 45% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5 recipes

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

What each ingredient does

Brussels sprouts
Form the main body of the gratin and carry the sauce.
White sauce
Provides creamy moisture that coats the sprouts and keeps them from drying out.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory flavor and a golden, browned crust when broiled or baked.
Baking soda
Raises the cooking water's alkalinity, helping the sprouts stay bright green.

The step that matters

Browning the top. The gratin is finished under high heat so the cheese and sauce brown quickly. Overcooking the sprouts before this point leaves them soft and watery, so keep the initial boil to the stated time.

Swap the brussels sprouts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parmesan cheese, sauce):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Brussels sproutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parmesan cheese, sauce. 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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