Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,118 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the broth
Remove all meat from the chicken bones and set aside in a cool place.
Break the bones into pieces and place them in a soup pot with the skin and gristly bits.
Pour in 3 quarts of water and simmer covered for 3 hours.
Strain the soup, rubbing the stuffing through a colander, then cool and skim the fat.
Return the strained soup to the heat and add 1 cup of yesterday's soup.
Prepare the crackers
Split and dry 6 Boston crackers in the oven for 30 minutes, but do not scorch them.
Butter the crackers and place them in a heated tureen.
Pour 2 cups of boiling milk over the crackers and let them soak covered.
Finish and serve
Season the soup with salt, pepper, and minced parsley.
If the soup is not thick enough, stir in a little cornstarch mixed with milk, then boil.
Pour the soup over the soaked crackers and serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Chicken + milktop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,387 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
-
Chicken + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,869 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Butter + parsleytop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together28,543 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken bones
- Release gelatin and flavor into the water during long simmering, giving the broth body.
- Boston crackers
- Soak up hot milk and broth, becoming soft and forming the body of the dish.
- Milk
- Softens the crackers and adds richness and a mild sweetness to the soup.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the soup when it is not thick enough, through starch swelling in hot liquid.
The step that matters
Drying the crackers without scorching them. Crackers dried too long in the oven brown and turn bitter, and scorched starch will taste burnt in the finished dish. They should dry until crisp but stay pale.
Flavor stand-ins for the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, butter, milk, pepper):
- Thymeabout as good a flavor fit
- Cinnamonabout as good a flavor fit
- Parsleythe original
- Rosemaryabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, butter, milk, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.