Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓
Guinea-fowls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pigeons
Select young pigeons with red legs and fresh bodies.
Clean and prepare the pigeons as you would for fowls.
Split the backs of the pigeons and flatten them slightly with a chopper.
Cook and broil
In a saucepan, melt 2 ounces of butter over medium heat, then add chopped parsley, green onions, salt, and pepper to the butter.
Add the pigeons to the saucepan and cook until half done.
Remove the pigeons, roll them in bread-crumbs, and place them on a grill.
Broil the pigeons over moderate heat, turning once or twice until fully cooked.
Serve with maitre d'hôtel sauce.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons
- Provide the main meat; young birds with tender flesh cook evenly through this method.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture while carrying the herbs and seasoning into the pigeons.
- Bread-crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the birds under the grill.
The step that matters
Cooking until half done before broiling. Partly cooking the pigeons in butter sets the meat before the grill. Stopping at half done lets the broiling finish them without drying the outside.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parsley, pepper, bread):
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parsley, pepper, bread. 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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