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 ↓
Chestnut Stuffing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chestnuts
Remove the shells from the chestnuts and boil them for 5 minutes to loosen the inner skin.
Remove the skin and boil the chestnuts in salted water until very soft.
Keep 1 cup of the chestnut water and mash the chestnuts in this water.
Make the stuffing
Add the bread crumbs, chopped mushrooms, chopped veal, chopped parsley, butter, salt, and pepper.
Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Chestnut + parsleytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together313 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Chestnut + mushroomtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together474 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chestnuts
- Provide the main body and starchy, mealy texture of the stuffing.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the stuffing bulk and a soft, cohesive structure.
- Chestnut water
- Adds moisture and carries the flavour of the chestnuts through the mash.
- Chopped mushrooms
- Add savoury, umami depth and moisture to the stuffing.
- Chopped cooked veal
- Adds meaty richness and savoury flavour to the stuffing.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a silky mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Remove the skin and boil the chestnuts until very soft. Chestnuts that are not fully softened stay gritty and will not mash smoothly into the stuffing. The inner skin must come off, since it is bitter and tough.
Swap the chestnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, mushroom, veal, parsley, butter, pepper):
- Chestnutthe original
- Beansfits about as well
- Walnutfits about as well
- Peasfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, mushroom, veal, parsley, butter, 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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