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 ↓
Sweetbreads
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the sweetbreads
Clean the sweetbreads and lard them with thin strips of pork.
Soak the sweetbreads in cold water for 15 minutes, then boil them in salted water for 20 minutes.
Drain the sweetbreads and let them cool slightly, then brush them with warmed butter and dredge them with pepper, salt, and flour.
Bake and prepare the peas
Place the sweetbreads in a baking dish and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
Boil the green peas, drain them, and season with salt, pepper, and butter.
Serve
Arrange the sweetbreads in a circle on a hot dish, place the peas in the center, and pour cream sauce around.
Garnish the sweetbreads with fried parsley and serve.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweetbreads
- Main protein; boiling firms them, and baking gives a browned, tender exterior.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the coating brown in the oven.
- Flour
- Forms a dry coating that helps the surface crisp and brown.
- Thin strips of pork
- Added fat that keeps the lean sweetbreads moist as they cook.
- Green peas
- Provide sweetness and a fresh, tender vegetable contrast to the rich sweetbreads.
The step that matters
Boiling the sweetbreads before baking. Soaking and boiling firm the delicate tissue and remove blood. Skipping or shortening this leaves them soft and fragile, so they break apart or brown poorly in the oven.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, butter, pepper, flour, cream, sauce, parsley):
- Chestnutfits better
- Beansfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, butter, pepper, flour, cream, sauce, parsley. 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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