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 ↓
Pork Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Slice equal quantities of fat and lean pork.
Roll the pieces in white spices and sweet herbs.
Prepare gravy from the parings.
Add small whole onions or minced onions, parsley, potatoes, and vegetable balls.
Layer the ingredients, dredging each layer with pepper and salt.
If using salted pork, adjust salt accordingly.
Season with mushrooms, fine vegetables, hard eggs, and force-balls.
Add wine or sauce after removing from the oven.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Parsley + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Mushroom + winetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,632 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, parsley, potato, pepper, mushroom, egg, wine):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, parsley, potato, pepper, mushroom, egg, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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