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 ↓
Chicken and Corn Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Combine the chicken broth and corn in a pot and boil slowly for one hour after it starts bubbling.
Strain the mixture through a colander to remove solids, season with salt and pepper, and add the herbs.
Heat the mixture to boiling, stir in the floured butter, and simmer for five minutes.
Serve
Pour the broth into a tureen and add the boiling milk.
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 + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken broth
- Forms the liquid base and carries the flavour of the dish.
- Corn
- Adds sweetness and body as it cooks down into the broth.
- Butter and flour
- Work together as a roux that thickens the broth and gives it a smooth body.
- Milk
- Adds richness and creaminess to the finished broth.
The step that matters
Stirring in the floured butter. Flour added to hot liquid can clump if not whisked in well. Stirring while the broth is at a boil and then simmering lets the starch hydrate and thicken evenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, corn, butter, flour, parsley, pepper, milk):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, corn, butter, flour, parsley, pepper, milk. 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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