Why it works: Thyme and parsley 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 ↓
Lievre Roti
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the thick bluish skin from the hare's legs and sides by briefly holding it over a clear fire.
Lard the hare all over with small lardoons using a larding needle.
In a deep dish, combine water, vinegar, onion, thyme, bay leaf, parsley, pepper, salt, and butter.
Simmer the marinade for 5 minutes, then let it cool.
Pour the marinade over the hare the day before roasting, basting occasionally.
When ready to roast, strain the marinade and baste the hare with it.
Fry the liver in butter, mash it, and mix it with the blood from the chest.
Combine this mixture with the remaining marinade and the drippings from the roasting pan, then pour over the hare before serving.
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.
-
Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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 (vinegar, thyme, parsley, pepper, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, thyme, parsley, pepper, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More roasted hare recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipes