Why it works: Butter and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and 28,543 recipes mention both. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare the butter
In a bowl, work together the butter, parsley, lemon juice, pepper, and salt.
Make the sauce
Prepare ½ pint of plain melted butter sauce using fish stock or milk.
While the sauce is hot but not boiling, stir in the Maitre d'Hôtel butter mixture thoroughly.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + parsleytop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together28,543 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,036 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together41,197 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides richness and a smooth, creamy mouthfeel to the butter and sauce.
- Parsley
- Adds fresh, herbal aroma and a green flavour to the butter.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and balances its flavour.
The step that matters
Stirring the butter into the sauce while hot but not boiling. If the sauce is boiling, the butter can separate and turn oily, so it should be hot enough to melt the butter but kept below a boil to stay smooth and emulsified.
“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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