Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Cannelon of Beef with Macaroni a LA Italienne
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Brown the beef on all sides in a hot frying pan using fat from salt pork.
In a large casserole, sprinkle the salt pork, carrot, onion, and celery.
Place the browned meat on top of the vegetables.
Add stock or water, bay leaf, red pepper or peppercorns, and cloves tied in parsley.
Spread more vegetable cubes on top of the meat and add salt if using water.
Cover the casserole and seal with a cloth spread with flour paste.
Cook in a very slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 6 hours.
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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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + porktop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pork, carrot, onion, celery, pepper, parsley):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Cuminfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pork, carrot, onion, celery, pepper, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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