Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Aspic Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the calves' feet into 8 pieces.
Wash the pieces in a basin of cold water.
Place the pieces in a stewpan and cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil to blanch the feet.
Remove from heat and let sit on a paper.
Transfer the feet to a basin of cold water and wash again.
Empty the stewpan and wash it well.
Return the cleaned feet to the stewpan.
Cut the meat from the knuckle of veal and add it to the stewpan with the bones.
Pour in 5 pints of water and bring to a boil.
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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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,476 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,108 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, clove, garlic, shallot, thyme, parsley, onion):
- Winter savoryfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Capersfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, clove, garlic, shallot, thyme, parsley, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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