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 ↓
Cream Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, cream together the butter and flour over gentle heat.
Add the chopped parsley, grated onion, pepper, salt, and nutmeg; mix well.
Pour in the cream or milk and bring to a boil.
Let it simmer for fifteen minutes.
Finish
If serving with fresh fish, stir in a little horseradish.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + horseradishtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together562 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + horseradishtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,784 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and carries flavor while forming the base with flour.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells when heated with the butter and liquid.
- Cream or milk
- Forms the liquid body of the sauce and gives it a smooth, rich texture.
- Onion
- Adds savory aroma and background flavor to the sauce.
The step that matters
Simmering after the boil. Once the cream or milk reaches a boil it can scorch on the bottom or boil over, and gentle simmering lets the flour fully cook so the sauce thickens smoothly without a raw, pasty taste.
Swap the horseradish
The recipe marks horseradish as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, parsley, onion, pepper, nutmeg, cream):
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits better
- Horseradishthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, parsley, onion, pepper, nutmeg, cream. 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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