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 ↓
Dexter Canapes
Ingredients
Directions
Cut stale bread into quarter-inch slices and shape with a round cutter.
Toast one side of the bread slices.
Spread the untoasted side with anchovy butter.
Cover each slice with a slice of tomato.
Spread the tomato with mayonnaise dressing.
Sprinkle with sieved yolk of hard boiled egg and finely chopped white of egg.
Garnish with a ring of green pepper and place a sprig of parsley in the center.
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.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Bread + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, anchovy, butter, egg, pepper, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Chivefits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, anchovy, butter, egg, pepper, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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