Why it works: Parsley and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Fried Parsley
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the parsley for crisping and ensure it is completely dry.
Fry and drain
Heat plenty of lard or butter in a pan until it is almost boiling.
Carefully add the parsley to the hot fat.
Remove the parsley with a skimmer as soon as it becomes crisp.
Drain the fried parsley on a cloth placed over a sieve.
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 + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Parsley
- Becomes crisp and brittle when fried, giving a light, crunchy texture.
- Lard or butter
- Fat that conducts heat to the parsley, crisping its surface quickly and adding richness.
The step that matters
Removing the parsley as soon as it turns crisp. Parsley leaves are thin and keep cooking in hot fat after they crisp. If left too long they darken and turn bitter and burnt. Removing them promptly keeps them bright green and crisp.
“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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