Why it works: Lettuce and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,037 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Stewed Lettuces
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the outer leaves and stalks from the lettuce.
Wash the lettuce thoroughly and soak in salted water for green vegetables.
Cook the lettuce until tender, about 20 to 30 minutes.
Drain and press out excess water, then chop the lettuce slightly.
In a clean saucepan, heat the chopped lettuce with pepper, salt, and a small slice of butter.
Sprinkle in a little flour and stir well.
Add a small cup of broth or gravy and boil until mostly dry.
Stir in a little pale vinegar or lemon juice and serve hot with fried bread sippets.
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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Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + flourtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,236 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lettuce + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,370 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lettuce
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, flour, vinegar):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Lettucethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, flour, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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