Why it works: Beef and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,866 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Peessed Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Cut off the bones from the brisket of beef and salt it, adding a little sal prunella to the brine and some spices.
Let the beef pickle for about a week.
When ready to cook, roll the beef, tie it in a cloth, and simmer gently in plenty of water for about seven hours if whole, or four hours if only the thin end.
Once done, remove the string, tie the cloth at each end, and place it on a dish with another dish on top, weighted down until completely cold.
Remove the meat from the cloth, trim, glaze it lightly, and serve garnished with fresh parsley.
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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Beef + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,866 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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