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 ↓
Of Green Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peas
Boil the peas with salt in water for five minutes.
Drain the peas.
Make the soup
Melt the butter in a stewpan.
Add the peas, salt, pepper, and parsley to the melted butter.
Cover the mixture with broth.
Stir until cooked.
Mash the mixture.
Strain the mash.
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 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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Peas + parsleytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,885 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Peas + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,331 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Peas + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,887 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Green peas
- Form the main body of the soup and supply its vegetable flavour and thickness when mashed.
- Butter
- Melts into the peas to add richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, parsley):
- Chickpeafits better
- Black-eyed peafits better
- Walnutfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, parsley. 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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