Name: Court-Bouillon
Ingredients: minced carrots; minced onions; faggot (bundle of herbs); water; vinegar or white wine; coarse sea salt

Why it works: Carrot and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Court-Bouillon

Ingredients

Directions

Place minced carrots, onions, and faggot in the drainer of a fish kettle.
Put the fish on the drainer and cover it with water and vinegar or white wine.
Add coarse sea salt and bring to a boil.
Keep the court-bouillon gently simmering based on the weight of the fish.
For whole fish, immerse in cold court-bouillon; for sliced fish, use boiling court-bouillon.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + vinegartop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,226 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Carrot + vinegartop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,892 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).