Name: Rice with Parsley or Chives
Ingredients: 1 cup washed rice; 2 quarts boiling salted water; ¼ cup butter; ½ tablespoon finely chopped parsley; ½ tablespoon finely chopped chives

Why it works: Parsley and chive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,150 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Rice with Parsley or Chives

Ingredients

1 cup washed rice
2 quarts boiling salted water
¼ cup butter
½ tablespoon finely chopped parsley
½ tablespoon finely chopped chives

Directions

Cook the rice in boiling salted water until tender.
Add the butter, parsley, and chives.
Toss lightly together and serve as a vegetable.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,150 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Rice + chivetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together241 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rice + parsleytop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,762 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together28,563 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter + chivetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,097 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice: Forms the starchy base of the dish, absorbing cooking water as it softens.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, glossy mouthfeel.
Parsley: Contributes a fresh, green aroma and light herbal flavor.
Chives: Adds a mild onion-like aroma and a bright, fresh note.