Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓
Stuffing for a Hare
Ingredients
Directions
If using the liver, scrape or scald it first.
In a mortar, combine bacon, suet, parsley, thyme, marjoram, shallot, bread crumbs, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and the egg.
Mix well until combined.
If the hare is boned, you may need more stuffing.
For best shape, remove only the back and rib bones, leaving the shoulders and legs intact.
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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Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,979 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,476 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, thyme, marjoram, bread, pepper, nutmeg, egg):
- Shallotthe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Parsnipfits about as well
- Leekfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, thyme, marjoram, bread, pepper, nutmeg, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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