Name: Sheep's Tongues with Asparagus
Ingredients: sheep's tongues; mashed potatoes; asparagus; salt; vinegar or lemon juice; eggs

Why it works: Potato and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 217 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Sheep's Tongues with Asparagus

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the sheep's tongues until tender.
Shape a ring of mashed potatoes on a serving dish.
Peel the skin off the tongues and trim any inedible portions.
Arrange the tongues on the potato with the root ends on top.
Cut the tender portion of asparagus into small pieces.
Cook the tougher asparagus pieces in salted water, then add the tips until tender.
Strain off the water and stir in vinegar or lemon juice.
Poach the eggs in the asparagus water as desired.
Place the poached eggs on top of the asparagus and serve.

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.

Potato + asparagustop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together217 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Asparagus + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,338 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Asparagus + vinegartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together439 recipes

Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
Potato + vinegartop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,608 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,978 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).