Why it works: Artichoke and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 636 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Garnituee Op Artichoke Bottoms
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the leaves and choke from the artichokes and rub the bottoms with lemon juice.
Soak the artichoke bottoms in water.
Scald the artichokes in boiling water mixed with vinegar.
Stew and serve
In a stewpan, combine the artichokes, bacon, lemon juice, butter, salt, sweet herbs, white wine, and water.
Stew the artichokes and cover them with hot ashes on a hot hearth until done, about 1 hour.
Strain and serve the artichokes whole as a garnish.
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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Artichoke + lemontop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together636 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Vinegar + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,776 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Artichoke + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together206 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Artichoke bottoms
- Form the main edible base that the dish is built around.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and softening the artichokes as they stew.
- Bacon
- Contributes smoky, savoury flavour to the stewing liquid.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and aroma to the stewing liquid.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and helps keep the artichokes pale.
The step that matters
Stew the artichokes until done. Artichoke bottoms need slow, moist heat over a long period to become tender throughout. Stopping early leaves them firm, while the gentle liquid carries flavour into the flesh.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (artichoke, vinegar, butter, white wine):
- Lemonthe original
- Plumfits about as well
- Grapefits less well
- Apricotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against artichoke, vinegar, butter, white wine. 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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