Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Salmi of Duck
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the duck meat into neat dice and the bones, stuffing, and skin into small pieces.
Marinate the meat in salad oil and lemon juice, then refrigerate.
Cover the bones with cold water, add parsley, pepper, and salt, and simmer for two hours after boiling.
Strain the broth, then thicken it with browned flour mixed with butter.
Add the juice of half an onion, bring to a boil, and then add the duck meat.
Reduce heat and let it simmer without boiling.
Arrange the meat on a flat dish.
Add half a can of champignons or fresh mushrooms to the gravy, simmer for three minutes, and pour over the meat.
Garnish with sippets of fried 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.
-
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, lemon, parsley, pepper, flour, butter, mushroom):
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, lemon, parsley, pepper, flour, butter, mushroom. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes