Why it works: Parsley and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,843 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Hamburg Steak
Ingredients
Directions
Add seasonings to the ground meat and mix well.
Shape the mixture into a small steak.
Pan-broil the steak until cooked through.
Garnish with parsley.
Add a little onion juice and chopped parsley if desired.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Meat + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,040 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
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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