Why it works: Parsley and horseradish match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 562 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Green Parsley
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the parsley
Pick the most handsome sprigs of parsley and soak them in a saltwater solution strong enough to float an egg for 5-6 days.
Drain the parsley on a sieve and immerse it in a fresh saltwater solution for another 10 days, changing the brine twice.
Drain again and soak the parsley in pure cold spring water for 2 days, changing the water daily.
Scald the parsley in boiling water until it turns a nice green.
Dry the parsley between soft cloths.
Make the pickle
Prepare a pickle by boiling mace, minced eschalots, sliced horseradish, and white wine vinegar for 10-12 minutes.
Pack and seal
Lightly pack the parsley into jars.
Pour the pickle over the packed parsley, ensuring it is well covered.
Top off the jars with more pickle the next day.
Cover the jars with pure olive oil to about 1 inch thick.
Seal the jars tightly with a wetted bladder and soft leather.
Store the sealed jars in a dry airy room.
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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Parsley + horseradishtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together562 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + olivetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,649 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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White wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,776 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Horseradish + olivetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together475 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh green parsley
- Forms the main body of the pickle and carries its green colour and flavour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the parsley during the brining stages, firming the leaves.
- White wine vinegar
- Provides the acidity that preserves the pickle and gives it a sharp, bright taste.
- Pure olive oil
- Forms a top layer that seals the jars and keeps the parsley covered from air.
- Sliced horseradish
- Adds a sharp, pungent aroma and heat that infuses into the vinegar.
The step that matters
Scald the parsley until it turns a nice green. Brief scalding in boiling water sets the chlorophyll colour, but over-cooking turns the leaves dull olive-brown and soft, so timing matters.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, egg, horseradish, white wine, vinegar, olive):
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Dillfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, egg, horseradish, white wine, vinegar, olive. 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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