Why it works: Nutmeg and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,907 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Fried Breast of Chicken with Corn Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Singed, drawn, washed, and simmer the spring chickens until barely done.
Remove from heat, cool, and skin the chickens.
Remove the breasts and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and powdered thyme.
Roll the seasoned breasts in melted butter, then in flour, and finally in beaten eggs.
Fry the coated breasts in hot fat until golden and cooked through.
Drain the fried chicken and serve with Sauce Supreme poured underneath.
Garnish with small corn fritters and watercress.
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.
-
Nutmeg + thymetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,907 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, nutmeg, butter, flour, egg, sauce):
- Parsleyfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, nutmeg, butter, flour, egg, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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.
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Corn Fritters203 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 recipes