Why it works: Parsnip and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,109 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Stewed, Parsnips
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and quarter the parsnips.
Cook the parsnips as you would for fried parsnips.
Drain the parsnips and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Cover with Cream Sauce or hot butter.
Serve very hot.
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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Parsnip + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,109 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + creamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Parsnip + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together325 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Pepper and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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 parsnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, cream):
- Spinachfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Parsnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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