Name: Classic Sole Meunière
Yield: Makes 2 servings
Ingredients: 1/2 cup all purpose flour; 4 sole fillets (each about 3 to 4 ounces); Coarse kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or canola oil; 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter; 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley; 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; Lemon wedges

Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,037 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together14,037 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairs

Aroma overlapmoderate

Mentioned together16,675 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

Classic Sole Meunière