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To Broil Chicken

A whole chicken is split, seasoned, broiled, then basted with butter and hot water, garnished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 ↓

To Broil Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chicken

  1. Dress and wash the chicken.

  2. Split it open through the backbone.

  3. Cut the cords under the wings and lay the wings flat.

  4. Cut the sinews under the second joint of the leg, then turn the leg down.

  5. Press down the breastbone without breaking it.

  6. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.

Broil

  1. Place the chicken on a gridiron with the inside facing the fire over a slow heat.

  2. Put a tin sheet and weight on the chicken to keep it flat.

  3. Broil for 10 minutes.

  4. Turn and repeat on the other side.

  5. Monitor closely to avoid burning.

  6. Adjust heat with ashes if necessary.

Finish and serve

  1. Once cooked, place the chicken on a hot plate with a large lump of butter and a tablespoon of hot water.

  2. Turn the chicken to absorb the butter.

  3. Garnish with parsley.

  4. Serve with poached eggs on a separate dish.

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. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,902 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  4. Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  5. Chicken + parsleytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,314 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Provides the main protein, which firms and turns opaque as it cooks through.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, coating the cooked chicken for a glossy, savoury finish.

The step that matters

Broil over slow heat with the chicken weighted flat. Slow, even heat lets the thick meat cook through before the skin chars. Keeping it pressed flat ensures even contact with the grid, so the surface browns evenly instead of unevenly.

Swap the parsley

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, butter. 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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