Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓
Rabbit a LA Minute
5 personsIngredients
Directions
Prepare
Empty, skin, and wash the rabbit thoroughly, and cut it into joints.
Cook
Put the butter into a stewpan with the pieces of rabbit; add salt, pepper, and pounded mace, and let it cook until three parts done.
Then put in the remaining ingredients, and boil for about 10 minutes.
It will then be ready to serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 9 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Wine | 2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml) | 25 |
| Mushrooms | 1/2 cup sliced (35g) | 15 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Rabbit | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 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.
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Mushroom + sherrytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,176 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
-
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Parsley + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,132 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 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
- Rabbit
- Forms the main meat, which becomes tender as it simmers in the liquid.
- Flour
- Lightly thickens the cooking liquid into a sauce.
- Sherry
- Adds flavour and a rounded sweetness to the sauce.
- Dried mushrooms
- Adds savoury, earthy depth to the sauce.
- Mace
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice note.
The step that matters
Cooking until three parts done. This first stage only partly cooks the rabbit, because it finishes in the second stage. Cooking it fully here would overcook the meat and leave it dry and tough by the time the sauce is ready.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, flour, rabbit, mushroom, sherry, pepper):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, flour, rabbit, mushroom, sherry, pepper. 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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