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 ↓
Salmi of Duck
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the duck carcass into neat dice.
Chop the bones, stuffing, and skin into small pieces.
Marinate the meat in salad oil and lemon juice, then refrigerate while preparing the gravy.
Make the gravy
Cover the bones with cold water.
Add parsley, pepper, and salt.
Simmer for 2 hours after boiling.
Strain the broth.
Thicken it with browned flour mixed with butter.
Add onion juice.
Bring the gravy to a boil.
Cook and serve
Add the marinated meat.
Reduce heat to simmer without boiling.
Remove the meat and arrange it on a flat dish.
Add mushrooms to the gravy and simmer for 3 minutes.
Pour the gravy over the meat.
Garnish with fried bread.
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.
-
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Duck
- Provides the main meat and flavor of the stew.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the gravy so it coats the meat and holds together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth finish to the thickened gravy.
- Lemon juice
- Acidity in the marinade brightens the rich duck meat.
- Mushrooms
- Add earthy flavor and body to the gravy.
The step that matters
Thicken the gravy with browned flour and butter. Flour must be fully mixed with the butter and added to simmering broth, then kept at a gentle simmer and stirred, so it thickens smoothly without lumps or a raw floury taste.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, parsley, pepper, flour, butter, mushroom, bread):
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, parsley, pepper, flour, butter, mushroom, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes