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Spinach Loaf

A baked loaf of spinach, rice, celery, mushrooms, onion, and cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Spinach Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make and bake the loaf

  1. In a large bowl, mix the cooked rice, chopped celery, sliced mushrooms, butter, salt, pepper, spinach, chopped onion, and egg.

  2. Form the mixture into a loaf shape that fits your casserole dish.

  3. Cover the loaf with grated cheese.

  4. Bake for 30 minutes.

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. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  2. Celery + spinachtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together616 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  3. Mushroom + spinachtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together778 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Pepper + spinachtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Cooked rice
Provides bulk and body so the loaf holds together as it bakes.
Egg
Binds the mixture and sets as it bakes, giving the loaf structure.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour and keeping the loaf moist.
Spinach
Adds leafy vegetable texture and moisture that cooks down within the loaf.
Mushrooms
Contribute savoury, earthy flavour and moisture as they cook.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.

The step that matters

Forming the loaf. The mixture is held together only by the egg and the starch of the cooked rice. If it is packed too loosely it can crumble when sliced, and if it is too wet it may bake up soggy in the centre. Shape it firmly and evenly so it sets into a cohesive loaf.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, celery, mushroom, butter, pepper, spinach, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, celery, mushroom, butter, pepper, spinach, egg. 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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