Why it works: Onion and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Stuffed Cucumbers
Ingredients
Directions
Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and remove seeds and pulp with a teaspoon.
In hot butter, fry chopped onions until light brown.
Add the pressed pulp and seeds to the onions and fry for 2 minutes.
Mix in soaked bread and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Stuff the cucumber shells with the mixture.
Sprinkle fine bread crumbs on top and add a piece of butter.
Place in a baking pan with a little water or gravy.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cucumber + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,050 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 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
Swap the cucumber
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, bread, pepper, nutmeg, beef):
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Cucumberthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, bread, pepper, nutmeg, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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