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 ↓
Broiled Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare and broil
Wipe the chicken with a towel and brush it inside and out with melted butter or olive oil.
Place the chicken on a broiler over a slow fire and broil for 20 minutes, turning often to prevent burning.
Cook the inside first to seal in the juices.
Simmer or bake
Lay the chicken skin side down on a small rack in a skillet with 1 tablespoon of butter and 1/2 cup of hot water.
Cover closely and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or bake in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for the same time.
Finish and serve
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a little parsley, and pour over any juice or butter left in the skillet.
If the chicken is not tender, simmer longer, adding a little water if it boils away.
Reheat any leftovers on the broiler.
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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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Chicken + parsleytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,314 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Forms the main substance of the dish, and its meat becomes tender and juicy with cooking.
- Butter or olive oil
- Adds fat that carries flavor and helps the skin brown and stay moist.
- Hot water
- Creates steam in the covered skillet, keeping the chicken moist during simmering.
The step that matters
Simmering covered with water. Moist heat slowly breaks down the chicken's connective tissue, which makes it tender. If the water boils away, the pan can dry out and scorch, so add a little water as needed and keep the lid closed.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, pepper):
- Thymefits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Garlicfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, 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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