Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Lettuces with Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lettuces
Trim off all the outside leaves of the lettuces.
Wash the lettuces.
Blanch the lettuces for 10 minutes.
Cool the lettuces.
Squeeze out the water from the lettuces.
Cut the lettuces in half.
Lay the halves open on a dish.
Season the halves with salt.
Tie the halves together.
Braise
Place the lettuce in a 2-quart stewpan.
Cover with broth.
Add stock pot fat, faggot, and onion.
Place a round of paper on top.
Simmer for 2 hours.
Drain the lettuce on a cloth.
Shape and serve
Untie the lettuce.
Open the lettuce again.
Cut out the stalks.
Fold the leaves into oval shapes, about 3 inches by 2 inches.
Dish the lettuce in a circle.
Reduce the household gravy to half its quantity.
Pour the reduced gravy over the lettuces.
Optionally place thin slices of bread in the intervals between the lettuces.
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 + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,108 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Cabbage + lettucetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together622 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Lettuce + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,483 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Lettuce + thymetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together247 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cabbage lettuces
- Form the main body of the dish, becoming tender and pliable after blanching and simmering.
- Broth
- Provides moisture and savoury flavour as the lettuce gently simmers.
- Stock pot fat
- Adds richness and carries flavour into the lettuce during braising.
- Household gravy
- Reduced to a concentrated sauce that adds moisture and savouriness to the finished dish.
The step that matters
Squeezing out the water after blanching. Excess water left in the lettuce dilutes the broth and stops the leaves from absorbing the braising liquid and fat, so they taste thin and can be soggy.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, parsley, thyme, onion, clove, bread):
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Turnipfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, parsley, thyme, onion, clove, bread. 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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