Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Split the chickens down the back and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Grease a wire broiler lightly with butter.
Broil
Place the chickens over a hot bed of coals, turning them every few moments until nicely browned.
Avoid any flame or smoke during cooking.
Once browned, place the chickens on a hot dish with buttered toast.
Cut small lumps of fresh butter over the chickens and place in the stove until the butter melts.
Garnish with sliced lemon and 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.
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 + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Chicken + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,092 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Young, fat chickens
- Provide the meat that is cooked directly over the heat and browned.
- Butter
- Greases the broiler and melts over the chickens, adding richness and moisture to the meat.
- Fresh butter
- Melts over the cooked chickens, adding richness and a glossy finish.
- Buttered toast
- Serves as a base under the chickens, soaking up their juices and fat.
The step that matters
Avoid any flame or smoke during cooking. Flames scorch the outside of the chicken before the inside cooks through, and smoke leaves a bitter, burnt taste. Steady, moderate coal heat browns the skin evenly.
“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 broiled chicken recipes
You might also like
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 recipesThe 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.