Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓
Haddock Soup, with Shrimps
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Flake the cooked haddock and set aside.
Make stock from the bones and shells of the shrimps.
Make the soup
Strain the stock into a clean saucepan and add the flaked fish.
Stir in half the measure of picked shrimps, parsley, salt, and pepper.
Add thickening if desired and bring to a boil.
Serve
Serve with dice-shaped croutons and a splash of white wine if using.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Fish + shrimptop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together252 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Fish + white winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together370 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Parsley + white winetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,890 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Pepper + white winetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cooked haddock
- Provides the main flaked fish body of the soup.
- Fish stock
- Forms the liquid base that carries the flavour of the whole soup.
- Picked shrimps
- Add sweet seafood flavour and tender bite to the soup.
- Thickening
- Increases the body and viscosity of the soup liquid when heated.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (haddock, fish, shrimp, pepper, white wine):
- Garlicfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Capersfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against haddock, fish, shrimp, pepper, white wine. 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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