Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,037 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Giblet Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the giblets
Scald, pick, and wash the giblets in warm water 2-3 times.
Cut off the bills, open the heads, and chop the necks and gizzards into moderate pieces.
Break the bones of the legs and place all giblets in a stew pan.
Make the soup
Add enough cold water to cover the giblets plus 1 pint and bring to a boil.
Skim the surface when it starts to boil.
Tie the herbs and spices in a muslin bag and add to the pot.
Simmer gently for 1.5 hours or until the gizzards are tender, stirring occasionally.
Skim off 5-6 tablespoons of fat from the top of the pot.
Mix the fat with 1 tablespoon of flour until smooth and stir into the soup.
Add ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of mushroom ketchup, stirring while it simmers for a few more minutes.
Serve
Remove the spice bag, pour the soup into a tureen, and serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + allspicetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,289 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Lemon + allspicetop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,083 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,626 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Goose or duck giblets
- Provide the main meat and rich flavour that forms the base of the soup.
- Flour
- Mixed with the skimmed fat to thicken the soup slightly and give it body.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds savoury, umami depth to the soup near the end of cooking.
The step that matters
Skimming the fat before adding flour. Fat left in the pot can make the soup greasy, and flour mixed with fat rather than added directly to liquid helps prevent lumps and thickens smoothly.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, parsley, allspice, flour, mushroom, ketchup):
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Arrowrootbetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, parsley, allspice, flour, mushroom, ketchup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
More giblet soup recipes
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Mushroom Soup60 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.