Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
To Broil Veal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Place the veal on a cutting board.
Saw off the end of the rib-bone, leaving the cutlet bone 3 inches long.
Remove the chine-bone at the back of the cutlets.
Joint each cutlet with a chopper.
Cut each cutlet close to the bone to get an extra cutlet between each bone.
Beat each cutlet to about ½ inch thick with a meat mallet.
Trim the cutlet round, leaving ½ inch of rib-bone bare.
Shape the cutlets nicely.
Set aside the trimmings for clarifying fat.
Chop the savory thyme finely until it fills a ¼ teaspoon.
Peel the lemon very thin and chop the rind finely.
Wash and dry the parsley, then chop it finely.
Melt the butter in the oven.
Once melted, mix in the lemon juice, chopped thyme, lemon rind, and parsley.
Add the egg, pepper, and salt, and beat together.
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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, lemon, parsley, butter, egg, pepper, bread):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymethe original
- Sagefits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, lemon, parsley, butter, egg, pepper, bread. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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