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Asparagus As Small Peas. — -Asperges Aux Petits Pois Au Roux.

A sautéed asparagus dish finished with espagnole sauce and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Asparagus As Small Peas. — -Asperges Aux Petits Pois Au Roux.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the asparagus and blanch in salted water.

  2. Drain the asparagus and place it in a stewpan with butter, parsley, and scallions.

  3. Toss the mixture until heated, then add the espagnole sauce.

Finish and serve

  1. Let it reduce, remove excess fat, and press out the herbs.

  2. Finish with a small pat of butter, dress, and 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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Asparagus + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together566 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

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

  4. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the sauce.
Espagnole sauce
Supplies the rich, savory brown sauce that coats and flavors the asparagus.
Butter
Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel when it is melted and finished into the dish.
Scallions
Add a mild onion aroma and sharpness that brightens the rich sauce.
Parsley
Contributes a fresh, green herbal aroma that lifts the heavy sauce.

The step that matters

Let it reduce, remove excess fat, and press out the herbs. Reducing concentrates the espagnole sauce so it coats the asparagus rather than thinning it. Skimming excess fat keeps the sauce clean-tasting and prevents a greasy finish.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, parsley, sauce, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Asparagusthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, parsley, sauce, pepper. 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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