Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,036 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
Gradually stir in the flour and continue stirring for 5 to 10 minutes until well blended.
Slowly add the boiling cream and veal stock, a few spoons at a time, stirring well.
Allow the sauce to simmer for 1 to 2 minutes between each addition.
Once smooth, stir in the lemon juice or chili vinegar, pepper, salt, and chopped parsley.
For a richer sauce, add the egg yolks, using half the amount of flour.
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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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,036 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + creamtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,494 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together122,858 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 122,858 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Butter
- Provides fat and rich flavour, and forms the base of the roux.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as a roux with the melted butter.
- Boiling cream
- Adds richness and body, giving the sauce a smooth, creamy texture.
- Veal stock
- Adds savoury depth and body to the sauce.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich and thicken the sauce, adding smoothness and colour.
The step that matters
Adding the liquid gradually. Adding the boiling cream and stock a few spoons at a time, and simmering between additions, lets the starch in the roux hydrate evenly. Adding it all at once can cause lumps that are hard to smooth out.
“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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