Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 9,057 recipes mention both. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the ducks
Dress and singe the ducks.
Lard them with bacon rolled in parsley, thyme, onions, mace, cloves, pepper, and salt.
Braise
In a stew‑pan, layer slices of fat bacon, ham, and veal or beef.
Place the ducks breast down and cover with more slices of bacon.
Add chopped carrots, turnips, onion, celery, mace, cloves, and whole pepper.
Cover tightly and simmer over low heat until the breasts are light brown.
Add broth or water, cover again, and stew gently for 2–3 hours until done.
Make the sauce and serve
Finely chop parsley, onion or shallot, anchovies, and gherkins or capers.
Combine in a stew‑pan with some duck liquor, browning, and lemon juice.
Boil briefly.
Trim the bacon even with the duck breasts.
Place ducks in a dish.
Pour sauce over, and serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Mace + clovetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,199 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Thyme + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + clovetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,210 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ducks
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through long, gentle stewing.
- Bacon
- Adds fat and savoury flavour that keeps the lean duck moist during braising.
- Anchovies
- Contribute a salty, savoury depth to the sauce that rounds out the duck liquor.
- Gherkins or capers
- Add acidity and sharpness that cut through the richness of the duck and sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Brightens the sauce with acidity, balancing the fat and savoury flavours.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until the breasts are light brown. Covered low heat braises the duck slowly so connective tissue softens without drying the meat. High heat or an uncovered pan would toughen the meat and reduce the liquor too quickly.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, thyme, mace, clove, pepper, ham, veal):
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Parsnipbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, thyme, mace, clove, pepper, ham, veal. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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