Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Breaded Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the chicken
Cut the chickens into pieces as for fricassee.
Dip each piece in beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbs or crushed crackers.
Season with pepper, coarse sea salt, and minced parsley.
Bake
Place the coated pieces in a baking pan and top each with a lump of butter.
Add ½ cup of hot water to the pan.
Bake at 300°F (150°C), basting often.
Make the sauce and serve
Once cooked, transfer the chicken to a warm platter.
In the pan, combine 1 cup of cream or rich milk with 1 cup of bread crumbs.
Stir the mixture until cooked.
Pour the sauce over the chicken.
Serve hot.
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.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,258 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Young chickens
- Provides the meat that is cooked through by baking and basting.
- Beaten egg
- Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs adhere to the chicken pieces.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned coating on the chicken and thicken the sauce.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the coating brown and flavour the chicken.
- Cream or rich milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the sauce, giving it a creamy texture.
The step that matters
Basting often during baking. Regular basting with the pan liquid and melted butter keeps the chicken moist and helps the coating brown evenly while the meat cooks through.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, egg, bread, pepper, butter, cream):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Garlicfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, egg, bread, pepper, butter, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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
The 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.

Brown Bread461 recipes
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 recipes