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 ↓
Boiled Sausage
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sausage
Mince the meat.
Mix the minced meat with breadcrumbs, bacon or ham, pepper, salt, chopped parsley, egg, and stock.
Cook and serve
Form the mixture into a roll and tie it in a floured cloth.
Plunge the roll into boiling water and boil for 2 hours.
Serve hot with brown gravy, or press between two plates, glaze with brown sauce mixed with leaf gelatine, and serve cold.
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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Meat + hamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Meat + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,040 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steak or cold meat
- Forms the main body of the sausage and gives it its meaty texture.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold together and stay tender.
- Bacon or ham fat
- Adds fat that keeps the sausage moist and rich as it cooks.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture so it holds its shape when sliced.
The step that matters
Tying the roll in a floured cloth. The cloth must be snug and well sealed so the roll keeps its shape and the meat does not fall apart or take in too much water while boiling.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, ham, pepper, egg):
- Parsleythe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Nutmegfits less well
- Marjoramfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, ham, pepper, egg. 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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