Why it works: Lemon and parsley 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 ↓
Poulette Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the Sauce Amandine for a few minutes.
Add the mushroom liquor and stir well.
Remove from heat and mix in the butter until melted.
Add lemon juice and chopped parsley, stirring to combine.
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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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + parsleytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,132 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Mushroom + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sauce amandine
- Forms the base of the sauce, supplying most of its body and volume.
- Mushroom liquor
- Adds savoury, earthy flavour and extra moisture to the sauce.
- Butter
- Melts into the sauce to add richness and a smooth, glossy finish.
The step that matters
Mix in the butter off the heat. Butter emulsifies best when the sauce is hot but not boiling. If the sauce is too hot, the butter can separate and turn greasy instead of blending smoothly.
“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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