Why it works: Capers and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,550 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Foie De Veau Saute Aux Cornichons
Ingredients
Directions
Melt lard in a frying pan until it's about 1 inch deep and heat until smoking hot.
In a separate saucepan, brown the butter and flour together over medium heat until golden, then slowly stir in the boiling water until smooth.
Boil the sauce for 3 minutes, then add salt, pepper, and capers or pickles. Keep the sauce warm off the heat.
Add parsley and onion to the lard and cook for 2 minutes.
Lay the sliced liver in the lard and turn constantly until slightly browned on both sides; it is done when firm to the touch.
Transfer each piece of liver to the sauce, ensuring it is well coated.
Arrange the liver pieces in a circle on a plate and pour the sauce over them.
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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Capers + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,550 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Flour + caperstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,024 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Capers + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,381 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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 (butter, flour, vinegar, pepper, capers, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, vinegar, pepper, capers, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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