Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Forcemeat
Ingredients
Directions
Grate stale bread into fine crumbs and place in a bowl.
Add grated lemon rind, minced herbs, nutmeg, salt, and pepper to the crumbs.
Break butter into small bits and add to the mixture.
Add the egg yolk and mix everything together with your fingers until smooth.
Ensure the lemon rind is fresh to avoid unpleasant flavors.
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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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 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
- Stale bread crumbs
- Forms the bulk of the stuffing and absorbs the butter and egg for a moist, cohesive texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, coating the crumbs and keeping the stuffing moist.
- Egg yolk
- Binds the crumbs and butter together, helping the mixture hold its shape.
- Mixed savory herbs
- Contributes fresh, aromatic flavor that balances the richness of the butter.
- Lemon rind
- Adds bright aromatic oil that lifts the flavor of the rich mixture.
The step that matters
Mixing the butter and egg yolk into the crumbs. Butter should be in small, cool bits so it stays distributed. If it melts, it can make the mixture greasy and uneven, while the yolk binds the crumbs and fat together.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, lemon, parsley, thyme, pepper, butter, egg):
- Marjoramfits better
- Sagefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, lemon, parsley, thyme, pepper, butter, egg. 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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