Name: Chicken, a LA Marengo
Ingredients: 2 pints stock; 10 eschalots, chopped fine; a few sprigs of parsley, chopped fine; a few sprigs of chives; a dozen mushrooms; pepper, to taste; coarse sea salt, to taste; 2 tablespoons gravy from the stewpan

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 ↓

Chicken, a LA Marengo

Ingredients

Directions

In a small saucepan, add the chopped eschalots and parsley to the stock.
Add the chives, mushrooms, pepper, and salt.
Take the gravy from the stewpan and add it to the sauce.
Boil gently for 10 minutes.
Place the chicken joints on a dish and pour the sauce over them.
Garnish with fried sippets around the dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,150 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Chive + mushroomtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together553 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Chive + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,885 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).