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 ↓
Fobce-meat Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the veal and udder (or veal and butter) and pound in a mortar until smooth.
In a saucepan, combine the chopped eschalots, parsley, and moistened bread crumbs; simmer until thick.
Pass the mixture through a sieve and let it cool.
Mix the cooled mixture with the meat and hard-boiled egg yolks.
Season with salt, pepper, and curry powder or cayenne.
Moisten the mixture with the raw egg yolks and form into balls the size of a large nutmeg.
Add the balls to the soup ten minutes before serving.
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.
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Parsley + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,588 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, bread, milk, egg, pepper):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Sagefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, bread, milk, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More forcemeat balls recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Indian Spiced Potato Soup with Tofu and Spinach448 recipes
Clear Carrot and Bottle Gourd Soup65 recipes
Mock Bisque Soup51 recipes
Cream of Asparagus Soup42 recipes