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 ↓
Tripe and Potatoes, Family Style
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice the white ends of the leeks very fine.
In a saucepan, melt the butter and simmer the leeks for 5 minutes.
Add the flour and simmer again.
Cook
Add the tripe cut into 1-inch pieces, bouillon, sliced potatoes, parsley, salt, pepper, and white wine.
Cover and cook for 1 hour, or until everything is soft.
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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Leek + parsleytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together759 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Leek + potatotop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Leek + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together328 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leeks
- Their fine-sliced texture softens into the broth, adding mild onion-like sweetness.
- Butter
- Melts to cook the leeks gently and adds richness to the broth.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid slightly as it cooks with the butter and leeks.
- Tripe
- Becomes tender during the long covered simmer, giving the dish its main body.
- Potatoes
- Soften in the broth, adding starch that thickens and fills out the dish.
The step that matters
Covered simmer until soft. Tripe is tough and needs a long, gentle, covered simmer to become tender. Cooking it too hard or too briefly leaves it chewy, and the potatoes may not fully soften.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (leek, butter, flour, parsley, pepper, white wine):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Turnipfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against leek, butter, flour, parsley, pepper, white wine. 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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