Why it works: Spinach and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,583 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Steamed Spinach
Ingredients
Directions
Place the spinach in a stewpan without water.
Simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain the spinach, then add butter and salt and beat well with a spoon.
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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Spinach + buttertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,583 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
- Spinach
- Is the main vegetable, cooked in its own moisture until tender.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the cooked greens.
The step that matters
Drain the spinach thoroughly. Spinach holds a large amount of water that is released as it cooks. Leaving it wet dilutes the butter and salt, making the dish watery and bland, so draining well before seasoning matters.
“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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