Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Lima Beans
Ingredients
Directions
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Add the lima beans and cook until tender.
Drain the water from the beans.
Moisten the beans with butter.
Season with salt and pepper.
If desired, add a little hot cream or cover with white sauce.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lima beans + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together414 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lima beans + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together468 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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 lima beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, cream, sauce):
- Pistachiofits better
- Beansfits better
- Almondfits better
- Lima beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, cream, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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