Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,118 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Parboil the small onions until tender.
In a stewpan, combine red wine, butter, onions, parsley, chives, bay leaf, cloves, salt, pepper, fine spicery, and sweet basil.
Add the prepared fish and bring to a quick boil over high heat.
Thicken the sauce with butter mixed with flour, adding anchovy butter as well.
Carefully shake the pan to avoid breaking the fish and ensure even thickening.
Dish the fish and sauce, and if the sauce is too thin, reduce it further.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + chivetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,907 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Clove + peppertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,144 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Red wine + clovetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together636 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Parsley + chivetop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,150 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, red wine, fish, butter, parsley, chive, pepper):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Garlicbetter flavor fit
- Celerybetter flavor fit
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, red wine, fish, butter, parsley, chive, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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