Name: Asparagus Tips
Ingredients: asparagus tips (less than 2 inches long); ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; 2 tablespoons butter; ½ to 1 cup white sauce

Why it works: Asparagus and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,968 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Asparagus Tips

Ingredients

asparagus tips (less than 2 inches long)
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
½ to 1 cup white sauce

Directions

Boil the asparagus tips in salted water until tender.
Drain the asparagus and transfer to a deep dish.
Season with pepper and salt, then add butter.
Pour the white sauce over the asparagus.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Asparagus + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,968 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Asparagus + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,026 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Asparagus + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together573 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Asparagus tips: Provide the main vegetable, cooked until tender for a soft, delicate bite.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel that coats the asparagus.
White sauce: Adds creamy moisture and body that clings to the asparagus.