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 ↓
Fairy Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the butters
Divide the butter into three pieces.
Work one piece smoothly with a palette knife.
Season with salt and cayenne.
Shape it into a square on a plate.
Pound the sardines and anchovies with the second piece of butter.
Season with cayenne.
Pass through a fine sieve.
Spread the sardine and anchovy mixture on top of the plain butter.
Boil the parsley for 3 to 5 minutes.
Pass through a sieve.
Mix with the remaining butter, seasoning to taste.
Spread the green butter on top of the anchovy butter.
Serve
Serve with dry toast.
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 + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides richness and a smooth, spreadable body that carries the other flavours.
- Sardines
- Add a deep, savoury fish flavour and body to the anchovy layer.
- Anchovies
- Contribute salty, savoury depth that rounds out the butter.
- Parsley
- Adds fresh, green aroma and colour to the top layer.
The step that matters
Passing the fish mixture through a fine sieve. Pounded sardines and anchovies can stay fibrous and grainy; sieving removes the bones and skin fragments so the butter spreads smoothly.
“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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