Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Veal with Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Minced beef suet, ham, thyme, parsley, scallions, and shallot together.
Add egg yolks, brandy, salt, and pepper to the mixture.
Spread the mixture on veal and roll it up.
Cover each piece with a thin slice of bacon and tie it carefully.
Place them on a small spit covered with paper.
Once cooked, remove the paper, grate bread over them, and brown at a clear fire.
Serve with gravy sauce.
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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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,476 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ham, thyme, parsley, egg, brandy, pepper):
- Shallotthe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Potatofits less well
- Capsicumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ham, thyme, parsley, egg, brandy, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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