Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 14,037 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Hollandaise Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Mix the flour and butter together in a saucepan.
Pour the boiling water over the mixture, stirring constantly until it thickens.
Add the salt and remove from heat as soon as it thickens.
Gradually add the beaten egg yolks, lemon juice, onion juice, and parsley.
Serve
Serve with fish and fish croquettes.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce with fat, giving it a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the boiling water into a smooth base that holds the sauce together.
- Egg yolks
- Emulsify and thicken the sauce, giving it its creamy body.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the richness of the butter and yolks.
The step that matters
Adding the egg yolks. Egg yolks can scramble if they meet heat too quickly, so the sauce should be off the heat and the yolks added gradually while stirring. This keeps them smooth and emulsified rather than curdled.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, egg, lemon, parsley):
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Chivebetter flavor fit
- Leekbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, egg, lemon, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
More hollandaise sauce recipes
You might also like
Hot Lemon Cream Sauce11 recipes
Wine Sauce (for stewed fruit)186 recipes
Caper Sauce180 recipes
Brown Sauce141 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.