Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Salmi of Partridges, Cold
Ingredients
Directions
In a stewpan, combine broth, shallots, lemon peel, pepper, salt, and Worcestershire sauce.
Heat on the fire and let it reduce to half the quantity.
Strain the sauce through a fine sieve.
Dish the partridges with a slice of fried bread between the pieces.
Pour the sauce over the partridges and add a squeeze of lemon juice.
If desired, add gelatine to the sauce and let it set.
Once nearly cold, arrange partridge pieces in a mold, adding some sauce at the bottom and filling with the rest.
Ice the whole together, turn out, and serve with savory or aspic jelly.
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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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Shallot + lemontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,523 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Shallot + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Shallot + saucetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,303 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shallot, pepper, sauce, bread):
- Avocadofits about as well
- Limefits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Cherryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against shallot, pepper, sauce, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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