Why it works: Parsley and thyme 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 ↓
Forcemeat
Ingredients
Directions
Grate stale bread into fine crumbs.
Mix in grated lemon rind and minced herbs, then add salt and pepper.
Incorporate butter bits and egg yolk.
Work mixture with fingers until smooth.
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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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Stale bread
- Dry crumbs form the body of the forcemeat and soak up butter and yolk.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps bind the crumbs into a smooth mixture.
- Egg yolk
- Acts as a binder that helps hold the crumbs and butter together.
- Lemon rind
- Adds aromatic citrus oils that brighten the flavour of the forcemeat.
The step that matters
Work mixture with fingers until smooth. Butter must be evenly distributed through the crumbs so the forcemeat binds well and does not turn greasy or crumbly. Working it gently keeps the butter from melting too much in the warmth of the hands.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, lemon, parsley, pepper, butter, egg):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymethe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Sagefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, lemon, parsley, pepper, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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