Name: Roast Chicken with Parsnips, Golden Beets, and Jerusalem Artichokes with Beer Pan Juices
Yield: Makes 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 4-to 4 1/2-pound chicken; 4 large fresh sage leaves plus 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage, divided; 3 fresh thyme sprigs plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, divided; 3 fresh rosemary sprigs plus 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary, divided; 2 1/4 teaspoons coarse kosher salt; Nonstick vegetable oil spray, 3 2 1/2-inch-diameter golden beets, peeled, cut into 3/4-inch wedges; 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided; 1 pound parsnips, peeled, quartered lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1 1/2-inch pieces; 8 to 10 ounces Jerusalem artichokes (also called sunchokes), scrubbed, halved lengthwise, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces; 1 cup lager or pale ale; Ingredient info: Jerusalem artichokes, the tubers of a variety of sunflower, are available in the produce section of some supermarkets and at farmers’ markets.

Why it works: Parsnip and jerusalem artichoke share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 12 recipes mention both. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. 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.

Parsnip + jerusalem artichoketop 5% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together12 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Sage + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together465 recipes

Shared aroma: 1,8-cineol (eucalyptus, camphor).
Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,340 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together1,485 recipes

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

Aroma overlapstrong

Mentioned together270 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, thyme, rosemary, olive, parsnip, jerusalem artichoke, sunflower):

Marjoramabout as good a flavor fit
Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
Fennelabout as good a flavor fit
Sagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, thyme, rosemary, olive, parsnip, jerusalem artichoke, sunflower. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

Roast Chicken with Parsnips, Golden Beets, and Jerusalem Artichokes with Beer Pan Juices

The recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Explore the science

The flavor team

Flavor stand-ins for the sage