Name: Baked Cauliflower
Ingredients: 1 head cauliflower; salt; 2 cups white sauce; ½ cup grated cheese; ¼ teaspoon paprika

Why it works: Sauce and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,987 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Baked Cauliflower

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Cut the cauliflower into clusters or boil whole until tender in salted water.
Drain and place in a baking dish.

Bake

Pour hot white sauce over the cauliflower.
Sprinkle with grated cheese and paprika.
Cover and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes.

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.

Sauce + cheesetop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,987 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together171 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Cauliflower + saucetop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together463 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cauliflower: Forms the main body of the dish and becomes tender as it cooks.
White sauce: Adds moisture and a creamy texture that coats the cauliflower as it bakes.
Grated cheese: Melts and browns on top, adding richness and a savory crust.