Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Chicken Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Boil the cream or chicken stock.
Mix the flour and butter.
Stir the mixture into the boiling cream or stock.
Add the chicken and seasonings.
Boil for two minutes.
Stir in two beaten eggs.
Let the mixture cool.
Shape and fry
Shape the mixture into croquettes.
Fry until golden.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 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
- Flour
- Thickens the cream or stock with the butter into a binding base for the filling.
- Eggs
- Bind the chicken mixture so it holds its shape when cooled and shaped.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps form a smooth, thick base with the flour.
- Cream or chicken stock
- Provides the liquid that is thickened into the moist binding for the chicken.
The step that matters
Let the mixture cool. The filling must cool and firm before shaping; if it is still warm and soft, the croquettes will not hold their form and may break apart in the frying oil.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, cream, flour, egg, parsley, lemon):
- Spinachfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, cream, flour, egg, parsley, lemon. 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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