Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Chicken Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the chicken
Place the cut chickens in a pot with 5 quarts of cold water.
Season with salt and pepper, and boil until the meat is very well done.
Remove the meat from the pot and cut it into small pieces.
Finish the soup
In a separate bowl, mix the butter with the flour.
Add the butter mixture and cream to the pot.
Return the cut meat to the soup.
Just before serving, stir in the beaten egg yolks and chopped parsley.
If using, add the green corn when the soup is half done.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Chicken + corntop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,666 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Parsley + corntop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 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
- Chicken
- Supplies the meat and the savory base of the broth as it simmers.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and carries flavor through the soup.
- Flour
- Mixed with butter, it thickens the soup as it cooks into a smooth body.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a silkier, fuller texture to the broth.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken and enrich the soup when gently heated, adding body and smoothness.
The step that matters
Adding the beaten egg yolks. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat. If the soup is boiling when they go in, the proteins can scramble and curdle, leaving a grainy texture. Stir them in just before serving, off the boil, so the soup stays smooth.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, butter, flour, cream, egg, corn):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Turmericfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, butter, flour, cream, egg, corn. 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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