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 ↓
Walnut Sandwiches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix together chopped walnuts and gruyere cheese.
Season the mixture with pepper, coarse sea salt, and mustard.
Assemble and serve
Spread butter on thinly sliced bread and form sandwiches with the walnut mixture.
Use a round cutter to stamp the sandwiches into rounds.
Sprinkle the tops with paprika and finely grated cheese.
Arrange on a serving dish and garnish with parsley.
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.
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Gruyere cheese + cheesetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together93 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Walnut + parsleytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together865 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Walnuts
- Provide crunch and a rich, slightly bitter nutty flavour to the filling.
- Gruyere cheese
- Adds savoury richness and a creamy binding texture to the filling.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the bread and helps carry flavour.
- Mustard
- Adds sharp acidity that cuts through the richness of the cheese.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gruyere cheese, pepper, mustard, bread, butter, cheese, parsley):
- Beansfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
- Chestnutfits less well
- Chickpeafits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against gruyere cheese, pepper, mustard, bread, butter, cheese, parsley. 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.
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