Name: Ragout De Pois Aux Lard
Ingredients: ½ pound bacon, cut into small pieces; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 quart young peas; 1 cup stock; 1 bunch fine herbs (such as thyme and parsley); 2 tablespoons chives, chopped; ¼ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon pepper; 1 teaspoon white sugar (optional)

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Ragout De Pois Aux Lard

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the peas and bacon

Fry the bacon in butter for a few minutes until crispy.
In a basin, mix the peas with a piece of butter.
Boil the peas in water for 15 minutes, then drain.
Add the drained peas to a stewpan to dry for a few minutes.

Make the ragout

Pour in the stock, then add the bacon, herbs, chives, salt, and pepper.
Let it stew slowly until done, then skim the ragout clear.

Adjust seasoning

If too salty, add a little white sugar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,150 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Thyme + chivetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together580 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Bacon: Adds savory fat and browned flavor to the ragout.
Butter: Carries flavor and adds richness when frying and coating the peas.
Peas: Form the main body of the dish and provide mild, sweet flavor and tender texture.
Stock: Adds moisture and a savory base that the peas simmer in.
Fine herbs: Contribute fresh aroma that brightens the peas and bacon.

The step that matters

Drying the drained peas in the stewpan. Any water left on the peas will dilute the stock and keep the ragout thin. Drying them briefly over heat lets surface moisture evaporate so the stock thickens and clings to the peas.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, thyme, parsley, chive, pepper, sugar):

Chestnutfits better
Chickpeafits better
Black-eyed peafits better
Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, thyme, parsley, chive, pepper, sugar. 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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Ragout De Pois Aux Lard