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 ↓
Oyster Stuffing
Ingredients
Directions
Drain and clean the oysters.
In a bowl, mix the cracker crumbs with melted butter, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and white pepper.
Add the oysters along with 2 tablespoons of their liquor to the mixture.
Stir until well combined.
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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Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Parsley + white peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,451 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (oyster, butter, parsley, lemon):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against oyster, butter, parsley, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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