Name: Glamorgan Sausages
Ingredients: Fresh breadcrumbs - 175 g (6 oz),; Caerphilly cheese - 110 g (4 oz) grated,; Small leek - 1 washed and very finely chopped,; Fresh parsley - 1 tbsp chopped,; Mustard powder - 1 pinch,; Eggs - 2 separated,; Milk - 4 tbsp,; Plain flour - for coating,; Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp,; Butter - 15g.

Why it works: Leek and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 759 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. 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.

Leek + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together759 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Leek + mustardtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together21 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Parsley + mustardtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,588 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Leek + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together328 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Fresh breadcrumbs: Form the bulk of the sausage and absorb moisture so the mixture holds together.
Caerphilly cheese: Adds savoury flavour and fat, and melts slightly to bind the sausages.
Eggs: Bind the mixture together, and the white gives a crisp coating when dipped and fried.
Milk: Adds moisture so the breadcrumbs and cheese can bind into a shapeable mixture.
Leek: Adds mild onion-like flavour and moisture to the sausage filling.

The step that matters

Dip and coat before frying. The sausages must be fully coated in egg white and flour so the coating sets and browns instead of falling off or soaking up oil. Shape them firmly first so they hold together in the pan.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, leek, parsley, egg, milk, flour, butter):

Chivefits better
Shallotfits better
Asparagusfits better
Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, leek, parsley, egg, milk, flour, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Mustard	1 tsp (5g) yellow	3
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1

Glamorgan Sausages