Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Fried Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the chicken
Parboil the chicken pieces until a fork can be easily inserted.
Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Roll the chicken in flour and fry in hot butter until golden brown.
Transfer the chicken to the oven at 400°F (200°C) to keep warm.
Make the sauce and serve
In the frying pan, mix 1 tablespoon of flour with the remaining butter.
Add a little hot water and the heavy cream, stirring until smooth.
Stir in the chopped parsley and pour the sauce over the chicken before serving.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main protein; parboiling first softens the meat so it cooks through before frying.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms a coating that browns in the hot fat and thickens the pan sauce.
- Butter
- Fries the coated chicken and adds richness and browning to the crust.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat and body, giving the pan sauce a smooth, rich texture.
The step that matters
Parboiling the chicken before frying. Parboiling partly cooks the meat so the interior is done by the time the outside turns golden. Skipping it or frying too long risks a burnt crust over raw meat.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, flour, butter, sauce, cream):
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Capersfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, flour, butter, sauce, 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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