Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Mayonnaise of Salmon
Ingredients
Directions
Wipe the salmon steaks dry and season with salt and pepper.
Place the salmon on a grill or in a dripping tin.
Dot with butter or dip in salad oil.
Grill for about 10 minutes, turning when one side is done.
Serve on a block of aspic jelly or chopped aspic, garnished with cucumber, tomatoes, lobster coral, hard boiled eggs, or green salad.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cucumber + tomatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,405 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Parsley + cucumbertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,564 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Parsley + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,398 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, pepper, butter, parsley, cucumber, lobster, egg):
- Chivefits better
- Shallotfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, pepper, butter, parsley, cucumber, lobster, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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