Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Boiled Fowl
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the fowl and remove any gills or feathers.
Place the fowl in a pot and cover with water.
Add coarse sea salt to taste.
Cook
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.
Cook a large fowl for 1 hour, a moderate-sized one for 45 minutes, or a chicken for 20 to 30 minutes.
Once cooked, remove the fowl and let it rest for a few minutes.
Serve
Serve with your choice of sauce poured over the fowl.
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.
-
Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Celery + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,006 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fowl
- Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and moist as it simmers in water.
- Bechamel sauce or white sauce
- Adds a smooth, creamy coating that gives richness and mild flavour to the fowl.
The step that matters
Simmering at a gentle heat. Once boiling, reducing the heat to a simmer keeps the meat tender. A hard, rolling boil toughens muscle fibres and can make the meat dry and stringy.
“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.
More boiled fowl recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes
Mushroom Soup60 recipes
Celery Stew25 recipes