Why it works: Peas and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,887 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Puree of Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peas
Drain the can of peas and let them stand in boiling water for 5 minutes.
Drain again and pass the peas through a sieve.
Season and shape
Add the salt, paprika, and butter; let simmer until rather dry.
Force the mixture through a pastry bag and tube.
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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Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peas
- Form the bulk of the puree, giving body and a smooth, starchy texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Simmer until rather dry. Excess moisture makes the puree loose and hard to hold its shape. Reducing it concentrates the flavor and gives a thick mixture that pipes cleanly through a tube.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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