Name: Beef Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce, Caramelized Carrots and Shallots
Ingredients: 1 1/2 Tbs. unsalted butter; 2 shallots, chopped; 1 Tbs. freshly cracked pepper; 1 bay leaf; 6 to 8 fresh thyme sprigs; 1 bottle (375ml) Cabernet Sauvignon (about; 1 1/3 cups); 2 cups unsalted veal or beef stock; 3 Tbs. unsalted butter; 2 beef filets (preferably prime), each 6 oz., well trimmed; Salt, to taste; Freshly cracked pepper, to taste, plus 1/8 tsp.; 1 carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup); 2 shallots, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 1 cup); 1 fresh thyme sprig; 1 bay leaf; 1 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Why it works: Thyme and parsley 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 ↓

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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,737 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,476 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, thyme, veal, beef, carrot, parsley):

Parsnipfits about as well
Leekfits about as well
Potatofits about as well
Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, thyme, veal, beef, carrot, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Beef	100g cooked	250
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0

Beef Tenderloin with Bordelaise Sauce, Caramelized Carrots and Shallots