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 ↓
Fish Roe
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the butter in a chafing dish and add vinegar or lemon juice.
Add the boiled shad roe and break it up lightly with a fork.
Stir in the mashed egg yolks, bread crumbs, parsley, pepper, and salt, then stir constantly until well mixed and serve very hot.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Roe + eggtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together243 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 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
- Shad roe
- Provides the main body and flavor of the dish, flaking into the mixture.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and add richness and a creamy texture.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and help give the mixture a soft, cohesive body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and carries flavor through the dish.
The step that matters
Stir constantly until well mixed. Egg yolks can curdle or turn grainy if overheated or left still, so constant stirring keeps the mixture smooth and evenly warmed.
“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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