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Asparagus-peas, a LA Creme

A creamy asparagus and pea dish simmered with butter, sugar, nutmeg, and egg yolks, served in a dome shape.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and peas match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 808 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus-peas, a LA Creme

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the peas

  1. Boil a quart of asparagus-peas in plenty of water with a handful of coarse sea salt until the water is boiling.

  2. Drain the peas in a colander, immerse them in cold water for three minutes, then drain again on a sieve.

  3. Place the peas in a stewpan with a small bundle of green onions and parsley, 2 ounces of butter, 1 tablespoon of pounded sugar, a little grated nutmeg, and salt.

  4. Cover and simmer gently over low heat for 10 minutes.

  5. Remove the bundle of parsley, boil down any excess liquid, and incorporate 2 small pats of fresh butter.

Finish and serve

  1. Mix 4 egg yolks with ½ cup of cream, then toss the peas over low heat to set the mixture.

  2. Dish the peas in the shape of a dome, garnishing with a border of flour.

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. Asparagus + peastop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together808 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Asparagus + nutmegtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together252 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus-peas
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the flavour of the butter and cream.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, glossy coating to the peas.
Egg yolks
Thicken the cream mixture so it sets lightly around the peas when tossed over heat.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, and combines with the yolks to form a custard-like coating.
Pounded sugar
Adds gentle sweetness that balances the savoury peas and salt.

The step that matters

Toss the peas with the egg yolk and cream mixture over low heat. Egg yolks thicken when heated but scramble if the heat is too high. Low heat lets the mixture set into a smooth coating rather than curdling into lumps.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, cream):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Hazelnutfits better
  3. Pistachiofits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, butter, sugar, nutmeg, egg, cream. 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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