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 ↓
Chicken Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
In a bowl, mix the chopped chicken, crumbled bread, 2 eggs, chopped parsley, pepper, and coarse sea salt until well combined.
Shape the mixture into pear shapes using your hands.
Coat and fry
In a separate bowl, mix the crushed crackers with 1 beaten egg.
Coat each croquette with the cracker mixture.
Heat lard in a deep pot and carefully add the croquettes.
Fry until golden brown and cooked through.
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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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,258 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).
-
Bread + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken breasts
- Provides the main body and savory flavor of the croquette filling.
- Eggs
- Bind the filling together and help the coating adhere to the croquettes.
- Soft bread
- Adds moisture and softness to the filling, helping it hold its shape.
- Crushed crackers
- Form a crisp, browned coating when fried.
The step that matters
Fry until golden brown and cooked through. Frying in hot fat browns the coating through the Maillard reaction while heating the filling to a safe internal temperature. Too low a heat leaves the coating greasy and the centre undercooked.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, bread, egg, pepper):
- Parsleythe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymefits less well
- Garlicfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, bread, egg, pepper. 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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