Why it works: Parsley and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,477 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Duke of York's Universal Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Pound hard dried toast and black peppercorns in a mortar.
Boil the mixture with an equal quantity of chopped parsley and vinegar.
Stir well and serve.
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 + vinegartop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,477 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
- Hard dried toast
- Absorbs liquid and thickens the sauce as it simmers.
- Black peppercorns
- Provides sharp, pungent aroma and heat.
- Parsley
- Adds fresh, green aroma and flavor.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce.
“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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