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 ↓
Veal and Ham Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the cooked veal and trim off browned skin and edges.
Break the chump bone into small pieces and place in a stew-pan.
Add mignonette pepper, salt, glaze or Liebig extract, bouquet of herbs, and onion to the stew-pan.
Cover with warm water and boil for 4 hours to extract gelatin.
Strain, cool, and skim off fat for later use.
Weigh the veal and take half that weight of sliced ham and a quarter of bacon.
Sprinkle parsley at the bottom of the pie dish, then layer with bacon, followed by veal and ham.
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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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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 (veal, ham, pepper, clove, parsley):
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, pepper, clove, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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