Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Poulette Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Melt the butter in a stewpan and add the veal broth. Stew slowly for 1 hour.
Remove the veal and reduce the broth quickly to half its quantity.
Beat the egg yolks well and pour the hot broth over them.
Return the mixture to the stewpan and stir over low heat for 2 minutes.
Add the chopped parsley, lemon juice, pepper, and salt.
Serve
Pour the sauce over the veal and garnish with croutons of fried gluten bread.
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.
-
Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
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
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce and give it a rich, smooth body when gently heated.
- Veal broth
- Forms the flavorful liquid base that is reduced to concentrate the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
The step that matters
Return the mixture to the stewpan and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Egg yolks thicken through gentle heat, but if the mixture gets too hot it can scramble, leaving lumps instead of a smooth sauce. Keeping the heat low and stirring constantly lets the yolks thicken evenly.
“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.
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.