Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
To Roast Chickens
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select and clean the chickens, ensuring the skin is smooth and tender.
Make a dressing by mixing bread crumbs, melted butter, chopped parsley, salt, and pepper.
Fill the cavity of each chicken with the dressing.
Turn the skin of the neck inside out and fasten it with a skewer or sew it shut.
Truss each chicken by pushing the legs under the skin and skewering them.
Turn each chicken breast side up and tie the legs together below the drumsticks.
Roast
Place bacon slices in a roasting pan and lay the chickens on top.
Rub the breasts with butter and add a tablespoon of butter and boiling water to the pan.
Baste the chickens with melted butter every 10 minutes.
Roast for 1 hour, allowing 15 minutes per pound.
Fifteen minutes before done, baste with butter, dredge with flour, and return to the oven to brown.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,258 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).
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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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Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Young chickens
- Provide the main meat, which cooks through and becomes tender in the oven.
- Stale bread crumbs
- Form the body of the dressing and soak up butter and juices as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the skin and helps it brown.
- Bacon
- Lies under the birds, adding fat and smoky flavor as it renders into the pan.
- Flour (in the method)
- Dusted on the skin near the end, it helps the surface take on a golden, crisp browning.
The step that matters
Fifteen minutes before done, baste, dredge with flour, and brown. Flour and butter on the skin must be exposed to dry oven heat for a short time. Too long or too hot can scorch the flour and darken the skin before the meat is cooked through.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, bread, butter, pepper):
- Parsleythe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Garlicfits about as well
- Marjoramfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, bread, butter, pepper. 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.
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