Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Pie Raised Hop, Russian
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the salmon and liver into scallops.
Simmer the salmon and liver separately in butter with parsley, mushrooms, truffles, shallots, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Mince the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs.
Make a raised crust as usual.
Layer cold rice boiled in chicken broth in the crust.
Add a layer of salmon scallops, then a layer of minced egg, followed by a layer of liver.
Repeat the layers until the pie is full.
Pour in the butter and herbs, cover with rice, and finish the pie.
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.
-
Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Mushroom + shallottop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,982 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, liver, butter, mushroom, truffle, shallot, pepper):
- Capersfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, liver, butter, mushroom, truffle, shallot, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Salmon Salad155 recipes
Salmon Croquettes129 recipes