Why it works: Parsley and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Chickens, a LA Dauphine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chickens
Bone the chickens, leaving the legs and wings intact.
Fill the void with quenelle of fowl mixed with chopped mushrooms and parsley.
Truss the chickens to maintain their shape.
Rub the chickens with lemon juice.
Cover the breasts with bacon.
Wrap the chickens in buttered paper.
Braise and serve
Place them in a stewpan with carrot, onion, and a garnished faggot. Moisten with light mirepoix.
Simmer gently for about 45 minutes.
Drain the chickens.
Remove the string.
Serve with the clarified essence they were braised in.
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 + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,172 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Spring chickens
- Provide the main protein, which becomes tender through gentle braising.
- Quenelle of fowl
- Forms a light, set stuffing that fills the boned cavity and adds richness.
- Fat bacon
- Lays fat over the breasts, keeping the lean meat moist during braising.
- Chopped mushrooms
- Add earthy flavor and moisture to the stuffing.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich chicken and stuffing.
The step that matters
Simmer gently for about 45 minutes. A gentle simmer keeps the meat tender and moist. A hard boil toughens the proteins and dries the breasts, and the stuffing can split or turn rubbery.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, mushroom, parsley, carrot, onion):
- Avocadofits about as well
- Limefits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, mushroom, parsley, carrot, onion. 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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