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 ↓
Minced Collops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mince the meat finely by hand.
Make the collops
Heat the butter or fat in a sauté pan over medium heat.
Add the onion and cook until lightly browned.
Stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
Add the minced meat and stir for a few minutes.
Pour in the stock or water, add the bouquet garni and mushroom ketchup, and season with salt and pepper.
Cook slowly for about 15 minutes.
Serve
Serve garnished with toasted bread.
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 + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + mushroomtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,557 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rump steak
- Minced meat forms the body of the dish, cooking into tender, savoury pieces.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a light sauce as it cooks with the fat and onion.
- Onion
- Browning the onion adds sweetness and savoury depth to the sauce base.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds a concentrated savoury, umami flavour that deepens the sauce.
- Stock
- Provides the liquid that simmers the meat and turns the flour into a sauce.
The step that matters
Stirring the flour into the fat and onion. Cooking the flour briefly in the fat before adding liquid coats the starch granules so they disperse evenly, preventing lumps and a raw floury taste in the sauce.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parsley, thyme, mushroom, flour, pepper):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parsley, thyme, mushroom, flour, pepper. 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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