Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Gravy for Roast Meat, Steaks, and Poultry
Ingredients
Directions
In a stewpan, combine the beef, veal, bant, onion, turnip, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme, whole pepper, and mace.
Set the stewpan over moderate heat and sweat the ingredients until the liquid turns light brown, being careful not to burn it.
Add water or beef broth and season with coarse sea salt.
Let it simmer until the meat is fully cooked.
Skim off any fat and strain the gravy through a fine cloth.
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 + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, turnip, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, turnip, carrot, celery, parsley, thyme. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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