Why it works: Lemon and parsley 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 ↓
Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Heat the butter until it can be beaten to a cream.
Whip in the strained lemon juice and minced parsley until it resembles a light-green cream.
Serve
Fill the lemon halves, from which the pulp and inner skin have been removed, with the mixture.
Garnish the dish of smelts with the filled lemon halves, serving one with each portion of fish.
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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Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat and richness, giving the sauce a creamy, smooth body.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright lemon flavour that cuts the richness of the butter.
- Parsley
- Adds fresh aroma and the light green colour of the finished cream.
The step that matters
Whipping the lemon juice into the butter. Butter is an emulsion of fat and water. If it is too hot, it melts into oil and the juice separates out instead of forming a light, creamy mixture. Beat it while it is soft but not melted.
“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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