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Asp and Cauliflower Souftié

A baked dish of asparagus and cauliflower in a creamy soufflé with a breadcrumb topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and cauliflower match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 163 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Asp and Cauliflower Souftié

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the base

  1. In a saucepan, combine flour, butter, milk, and stock, then bring to a boil.

  2. Add asparagus and cauliflower, seasoning to taste.

  3. Let the mixture cool slightly, then stir in the egg yolks.

Bake

  1. Fold in the egg whites gently.

  2. Pour into a baking dish, top with bread crumbs, and dot with butter.

  3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 40 minutes until golden.

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. Asparagus + cauliflowertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Cauliflower + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,113 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whipped air is folded in, giving the soufflé its light, risen structure as it bakes.
Egg yolks
Stirred into the cooled base, they add richness and help the mixture set when baked.
Flour
Cooked with butter and liquid, it thickens the base so it can hold the vegetables and air.
Cauliflower
Chopped and cooked, it provides the main body and mild flavor of the soufflé.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the base and to the topping dotted over the dish.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites gently. Egg whites hold air only while intact. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out, so the soufflé rises less and turns dense.

Swap the cauliflower

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (asparagus, pepper, flour, butter, milk, egg, bread):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Cauliflowerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against asparagus, pepper, flour, butter, milk, egg, bread. 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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