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 ↓
Pickling and Preserving
Ingredients
Directions
Tie the meat into an even shape and skewer if necessary.
In a fireproof utensil, cover the meat with water.
Add onions, celery, parsley, chervil, mace, herbs, nutmeg, lemon rind, and beef suet.
Weight the lid down to prevent it from rising while boiling.
Cook slowly for 6-8 hours until tender.
Leave the meat in the liquid until completely cold.
Serve garnished with parsley and beetroot.
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 + cherviltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together774 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Chervil + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together358 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, celery, parsley, chervil, nutmeg, lemon, beef):
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, celery, parsley, chervil, nutmeg, lemon, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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