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 ↓
Veal Foecemeat
Ingredients
Directions
Pound the veal, suet, bread crumbs, parsley, lemon peel, sweet herbs, onion, and mace or allspice in a mortar until well combined.
Add the yolk and white of the egg, and mix thoroughly.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
For additional flavor, mix in anchovy, shallot, Cayenne, or curry powder if desired.
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).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the main meaty body and texture of the mixture.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and tender as it cooks.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the mixture body and a softer texture.
- Egg
- Binds the ingredients together so the mixture holds its shape.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, bread, parsley, lemon, onion, egg, pepper):
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, bread, parsley, lemon, onion, egg, pepper. 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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