Name: Fennel, Parsley, and Tarragon Sauces
Ingredients: 1 small fennel bulb; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 small bunch tarragon or parsley

Why it works: Fennel and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 134 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Fennel, Parsley, and Tarragon Sauces

Ingredients

1 small fennel bulb
2 tablespoons butter
1 small bunch tarragon or parsley

Directions

Blanch the fennel in boiling water for a few minutes.
Finely mince the blanched fennel.
Stir the minced fennel into the butter.
For tarragon or parsley sauce, substitute the fennel with finely minced tarragon or parsley.

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.

Fennel + tarragontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together134 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Butter + tarragontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,572 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
Fennel + buttertop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together647 recipes

Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

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

What each ingredient does

Fennel: Adds a mild, sweet anise-like flavour and a tender texture once blanched and minced.
Butter: Provides fat and richness, carrying the flavour of the minced vegetable through the sauce.
Tarragon or parsley: Adds fresh, aromatic herb flavour as the alternative to fennel.