Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Partridges Grillees with Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the partridges by splitting them down the middle.
Cook and sauce
Broil the partridges as you would for chickens.
Prepare a good mushroom sauce, adding parsley, lemon thyme, and chopped truffles.
Pour the hot mushroom sauce over the partridges just before serving.
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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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + thymetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,557 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Partridges
- Form the main protein; splitting them lets the heat reach the meat evenly.
- Mushroom sauce
- Adds moisture and savoury, earthy flavour to the grilled birds.
- Chopped truffles
- Contribute a concentrated, aromatic earthy flavour to the sauce.
- Lemon thyme
- Adds a fresh, citrusy herbal aroma to the sauce.
The step that matters
Pour the hot mushroom sauce over the partridges just before serving. Serving the sauce hot and at the last moment keeps the birds moist and the sauce glossy, since the sauce cools quickly and the grilled meat can dry out if it waits.
“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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