Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Maryland Chicken with Corn Dodgers
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Clean and joint the chickens as for fricassee.
Heat lard in a frying pan until boiling.
Wipe the chicken pieces and drop them into the boiling lard.
Fry until well browned and cooked through, about 15 to 25 minutes.
Remove cooked chicken to a hot dish.
Make the gravy
Pour off excess lard, leaving any chicken gravy in the pan.
Add ½ cup of cream to the pan.
Dredge the cream in a little flour and stir the mixture.
Bring to a boil.
Let it boil for 3 minutes.
Season with pepper and salt.
Pour the gravy over the chicken.
Garnish with finely chopped parsley.
Make the corn dodgers and serve
Cut the cold cornmeal mush into ½ inch thick slices.
Cut the slices into diamond shapes.
Dip the pieces in egg.
Cover with flour.
Fry in butter until golden.
Garnish the platter with corn dodgers. 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Flour and butter 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
- Chicken
- The main protein, which browns in hot lard while its inside cooks through.
- Lard
- Hot frying fat that browns the chicken and creates a crisp, flavourful surface.
- Cream
- Enriches the pan gravy, adding body and a rich, smooth texture.
- Flour
- Dusted onto the cream it thickens the gravy, and on the corn dodgers it helps them brown.
- Cold cornmeal mush
- Firms up when chilled, so it holds its shape for slicing and frying.
- Butter
- Frying fat that gives the corn dodgers a golden colour and a rich, nutty flavour.
The step that matters
Dropping the chicken into boiling lard. Hot fat sears the outside quickly, forming a browned crust that seals in juices and limits grease soaking into the meat. Wiped, dry pieces help the fat stay hot and the crust form.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, cream, pepper, flour, butter):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Garlicfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, cream, pepper, flour, butter. 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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