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 ↓
A Nourishing Omelet
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the beef extract in hot water and stir in the rolled bread crusts. Let them soak over the heat.
Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately.
Stir the soaked crumbs into the yolks, then add a dash of salt and pepper.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Cook the mixture in a hot, buttered omelet pan until set.
Fold the omelet and invert it onto a hot dish.
Garnish with parsley before serving.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Wheat + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together209 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Wheat + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, wheat, bread, pepper, butter):
- Parsleythe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits less well
- Sagefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, wheat, bread, pepper, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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