Name: Neat's Tongue with Parsley
Ingredients: 1 neat's tongue; ¼ cup fat bacon; any piece of beef; stock; white pepper; parsley, finely chopped; vinegar (optional)

Why it works: White pepper and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,451 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓

Neat's Tongue with Parsley

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tongue

Blanch the neat's tongue in water for 15 minutes.
Lard the tongue with fat bacon.

Cook and serve

Place it in a pot to boil with a piece of beef.
Once cooked, remove the skin.
Cut the tongue lengthwise, leaving it attached in the middle.
Serve with stock, white pepper, and finely chopped parsley.
Add a sprinkle of vinegar if desired.

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.

White pepper + parsleytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,451 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Parsley + vinegartop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,477 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Beef + parsleytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,866 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
White pepper + vinegartop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,154 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef + vinegartop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,895 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Neat's tongue: Forms the main body of the dish, with a tender texture after long simmering.
Fat bacon: Adds fat that moistens the lean tongue and carries savory flavor during cooking.
Beef: Contributes savory meat flavor to the cooking liquid as it boils with the tongue.
Parsley: Adds fresh, herbal aroma that brightens the rich meat.