Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Rich Gravy for Yeal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Combine the veal trimmings, small pieces of veal, and water in a stewpan.
Add thyme, parsley, bay leaf, onion, and lemon peel.
Simmer for 1 hour, then strain the liquid into a basin.
Make the roux
Melt butter in the stewpan.
Mix in enough flour to form a paste.
Stir the paste over heat for a few minutes.
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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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 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
- Veal trimmings and pieces
- Release flavour and gelatin into the water to build the body of the stock.
- Butter
- Carries flavour and forms the fat base for the thickening paste.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid once cooked into a paste with the butter.
- Onion
- Adds aromatic sweetness to the stock as it simmers.
The step that matters
Stir the paste over heat for a few minutes. Cooking the flour and butter paste drives off its raw starchy taste and lets it thicken smoothly when the stock is added. Stirring keeps it from scorching or forming lumps.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, thyme, parsley, lemon, butter, flour):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, thyme, parsley, lemon, butter, flour. 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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