Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Round the Table
Ingredients
Directions
Potato dishes
Cut peeled potatoes into spiral parings and fry them secundum artem to make potato chips.
Cut leftover boiled potatoes into quarters and dress them with a white sauce, or with plain melted butter and minced parsley.
Stir an egg or two into cold mashed potatoes, then add finely powdered spices, pepper, salt to taste, and minced parsley.
Mix well and roll the mixture into balls or any shape.
Cover with fine bread crumbs and fry to a golden colour.
Serve garnished with fried parsley.
Cabbage
Steam greens and cabbages with a fair sprinkling of salt applied before steaming.
Cut a young cabbage or savoy into quarters and soak in cold water with a good handful of salt for two or three hours.
Boil the cabbage pieces for fifteen to twenty minutes, then drain thoroughly on a sieve.
Mince bacon fat finely and melt it in a saucepan with minced shallot or onion, sweet herbs, pepper and spices.
Lay the cabbage pieces in the melted bacon and add hot stock, broth or water to half cover them.
Simmer until thoroughly done, then remove the pieces.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Form the base of the dish, becoming crisp when fried or soft and binding when mashed.
- Eggs (in the method)
- Bind the cold mashed potatoes so the mixture holds its shape when rolled and fried.
- Cabbage (in the method)
- Provides the main vegetable, becoming tender when boiled and then simmered in stock.
- Bacon fat (in the method)
- Carries flavour into the cabbage and gives richness as it melts in the saucepan.
- Bread crumbs (in the method)
- Form a crisp, golden coating when the potato balls are fried.
The step that matters
Soaking the cabbage in salted water. Salt is needed to draw out bitterness and season the cabbage, but the soak is timed by the record at two or three hours, so the cook must allow that time before boiling.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, parsley):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, parsley. 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.
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