Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Liver and Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Fry the liver and bacon
Melt the dripping in a frying pan over medium heat.
Dredge the liver slices in flour and fry them in the pan until cooked through.
Fry the bacon until crispy.
Place the liver on a hot dish and top with the bacon.
Make the sauce and serve
Melt butter in the pan, add flour, and stir until smooth.
Pour the sauce over the liver and bacon.
Garnish with parsley and lemon slices.
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 + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Calf's liver
- Is the main protein, cooked through after a flour dredge that helps it brown.
- Dripping
- Fat for frying that adds richness and helps the liver and bacon brown in the pan.
- Bacon
- Adds salty, savoury fat and crispness that contrasts with the tender liver.
- Flour
- Coats the liver for browning and, in the sauce, thickens the butter into a smooth base.
The step that matters
Cooking the liver through. Liver turns dry and tough when overcooked, yet undercooked liver is unsafe, so it needs steady medium heat and a check that it is cooked through without being pushed past that point.
“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 liver and bacon recipes
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe 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.