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 ↓
Chicken Mould
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine the chopped chicken, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, parsley, lemon‑thyme, salt, and Nepal pepper.
Moisten the mixture with strong stock and add the beaten eggs. Mix well.
Bake and serve
Butter a deep fluted mould and fill it with the mixture.
Bake in the oven until set and firm.
Let it cool slightly before unmoulding.
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).
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Chicken + garlictop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,850 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set firm when baked.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the stock and give the mould a soft, tender body.
- Chicken
- Forms the main body of the mould, giving substance and structure.
- Strong stock
- Moistens the mixture so it stays juicy during baking.
The step that matters
Bake until set and firm. Egg proteins coagulate as they heat, holding the mixture together. Underbaking leaves it loose and fragile when unmoulded, while the mixture should be fully set before cooling.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, meat, bread, onion, garlic, parsley, lemon):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Celeryfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, meat, bread, onion, garlic, parsley, lemon. 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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