Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Mushrooms a LA Bordelais
Ingredients
Directions
Skin the mushrooms and lightly score the underside.
Place them in an earthen dish and baste with oil or melted butter.
Sprinkle pepper and salt over the mushrooms.
Marinate for at least 1 hour.
Broil the mushrooms on both sides over a clear fire.
Serve with a sauce made from oil or melted butter mixed with minced parsley, young onions, garlic, and lemon juice.
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 + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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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 + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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 (mushroom, butter, pepper, parsley, garlic, lemon):
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, butter, pepper, parsley, garlic, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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