Why it works: Onion and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,912 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Baked Onions
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Wash the onions thoroughly.
Boil the onions in a saucepan with slightly salted water for 1 hour, replenishing with boiling water as needed.
Remove the onions and place them on a cloth to absorb moisture.
Wrap each onion in buttered tissue paper, twisting the top to seal.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for nearly 1 hour or until tender.
Peel the onions and place them in a deep dish.
Brown the onions slightly by basting with butter for 15 minutes.
Season with pepper and salt, and pour melted butter over the top.
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.
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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