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 ↓
Beef, a LA Mode
Ingredients
Directions
Choose a good cut of beef and slice it thinly. Beat and trim the slices.
Lard the beef with small pieces of bacon.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over the beef.
Place the beef in a large stewpan.
Add calf's feet, carrots, onions, parsley, chives, thyme, bay leaves, stock, and white wine.
Simmer for 4 hours, turning the meat occasionally.
Once done, place the meat on a dish and keep it warm.
Skim and strain the sauce, then boil it up.
If necessary, color the sauce with caramel.
Pour the sauce over the meat and serve.
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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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,563 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,150 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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 (beef, pepper, butter, carrot, parsley, chive, thyme):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, butter, carrot, parsley, chive, thyme. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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