Why it works: Parsley and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Duck Stew
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Roast
Truss the duck firmly and roast it halfway in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
Stew
In a stewpan, add the duck as it is taken from the spit.
Alternatively, brown the duck in butter, then cover it partially with boiling gravy.
Stew the duck for 1 to 1.25 hours, turning it occasionally.
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 + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Shallot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together202 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + turniptop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,842 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Duck
- Provides the main meat and fat that flavour the stew as it cooks.
- Butter
- Browns the duck and adds richness and a nutty aroma at the start.
- Espagnole sauce or beef stock
- Supplies the liquid that becomes the savoury, glossy body of the stew.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and body as they soften during the long stewing.
The step that matters
Stewing the duck. Stewing gently for the full time, turning occasionally, lets the tough duck meat become tender and lets its fat and juices blend into the liquid. Boiling hard would toughen the meat and make the sauce greasy.
Swap the turnip
The recipe marks turnip as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, parsley, carrot, shallot, butter, sauce):
- Chivefits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Turnipthe original
- Parsnipfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, parsley, carrot, shallot, butter, sauce. 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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