Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Kedgeree
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a large saucepan, melt the butter with salt and pepper.
Add the rice and stir with a fork.
Cook and serve
Remove skin, bones, and dark parts from the salmon, then break it into small bits.
Add the salmon and any oil to the rice, and adjust seasoning if needed.
Keep the mixture hot.
Finally, add the beaten eggs and serve immediately.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + parsleytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,762 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,379 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + ricetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,645 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Beaten eggs are added at the end to set and bind the warm rice mixture.
- Butter
- Melts into the rice to add richness and carry the seasoning.
- Boiled rice
- Forms the base of the dish, soaking up the butter and absorbing the flavours.
- Salmon
- Provides the main flavour and flaked texture running through the rice.
The step that matters
Add the beaten eggs and serve immediately. Eggs set when heated, so adding them to a hot mixture and serving at once keeps them soft and creamy rather than dry or overcooked.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (salmon, butter, rice, egg, pepper):
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Dillfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against salmon, butter, rice, egg, 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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