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Salsifis Frits

Fried salsify pieces coated in batter, seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, vinegar, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Salsifis Frits

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the salsify

  1. Cut the salsify into 4 to 5‑inch pieces.

  2. Cook the salsify until tender.

Marinate

  1. Season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and vinegar; let sit for 2 hours.

  2. Drain the salsify and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

Fry and serve

  1. Dip the pieces in batter and fry in hot oil, a few at a time.

  2. Drain, season with salt, 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.

  1. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Olive + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,649 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Olive + vinegartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,297 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  4. Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,263 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Salsify
Is the main vegetable, becoming tender when cooked and then coated and fried.
Batter for frying
Forms a crisp, golden coating that encases the salsify as it fries.
Olive oil
Adds fat and richness to the seasoning that the salsify absorbs while it rests.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the salsify during its rest.

The step that matters

Fry in hot oil, a few at a time. Oil that is hot enough sets the batter quickly, giving a crisp coating. Crowding the pan drops the oil temperature, so the batter absorbs more oil and turns greasy.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, olive, vinegar):

  1. Garlicfits about as well
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Basilfits about as well
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, olive, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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