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 ↓
French Sauce After the Italian Manner
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Combine parsley, scallions, mrel leaf, garlic, and loaves in a pot.
Add a pinch of flour mixed with white wine, broth, salt, and whole pepper.
Bring to a boil and cook for 30 minutes.
Finish and serve
Skim off the fat and remove the herbs.
If the sauce is too thin, add a little flour and 1-2 tablespoons of onion juice.
Serve the sauce warm.
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).
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Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Garlic + peppertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,090 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the sauce.
- Broth or cullis
- Provides the liquid base and savory depth of the sauce.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, garlic, flour, white wine, pepper):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, garlic, flour, white wine, pepper. 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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