Name: Cauliflower with Saffron
Yield: Serves 4
Ingredients: Olive oil; 1 medium spanish onion, finely sliced; Sea salt; Freshly ground black pepper, to taste; 1/2 medium cauliflower cut into florets; 40 tips saffron in 2 tbsp hot water; chicken stock with water; 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts; 3 tbsp raisins soaked in warm water for 5 minutes to soften

Why it works: Saffron and pine share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Cauliflower with Saffron

Serves 4

Ingredients

Olive oil
1 medium spanish onion, finely sliced
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 medium cauliflower cut into florets
40 tips saffron in 2 tbsp hot water
chicken stock with water
3 tbsp toasted pine nuts
3 tbsp raisins soaked in warm water for 5 minutes to soften

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

668Calories

41 gProtein

40 gFat

43 gCarbs

Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 9 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pine	1 oz (28g)	191
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Broccoli	1 cup chopped (156g)	55
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Saffron	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

Saffron + pinetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together41 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Olive + pinetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,062 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pepper + saffrontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together781 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, onion, pepper, cauliflower, saffron, chicken, pine):

Beansfits better
Lentilsfits better
Cashew nutfits better
Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, onion, pepper, cauliflower, saffron, chicken, pine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The 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.