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 ↓
Corn Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the chicken in 1 gallon of water until tender, about 1 hour.
Add the corn and stew gently for about 1 hour before serving.
Remove the chicken and reserve 1 cup of the liquid if desired.
Season the soup with pepper, salt, and parsley.
If desired, thicken the soup with a little flour and serve without straining.
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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Corn + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Corn + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together943 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fowl
- Releases flavor and gelatin into the water, giving the broth its body and savory taste.
- Green corn
- Adds sweetness and starchy body to the soup as it stews.
- Flour
- Thickens the soup slightly when added, giving it a more velvety texture.
The step that matters
Stewing the corn gently. Gentle heat keeps the corn tender and sweet without toughening it or breaking it down too far, while the soup thickens gradually.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, pepper, flour):
- Jalapenofits better
- Turmericfits better
- Cuminfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, pepper, flour. 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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