Why it works: Asparagus and parmesan cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 300 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓
The recipe
6 servingsIngredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and place a rack in the middle.
Lay the trimmed asparagus in a single layer in a baking dish.
Spread the mayonnaise evenly over the asparagus spears so they are coated on all sides.
In a small bowl, stir together the bread crumbs and grated Parmesan cheese, then sprinkle the mixture over the asparagus.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the topping is golden brown and the asparagus is tender when pierced with a knife.
Let it rest for 2 minutes, then serve warm.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Asparagus + parmesan cheesetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together300 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).
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Bread + parmesan cheesetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together578 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Asparagus + breadtop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together363 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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