Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓
Stewed Rabbit
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rabbit
Soak the dressed rabbit in a mixture of salt and water for 1 hour to draw out the blood.
Place the rabbit in a stew pan and cover with water.
Boil until tender, skimming constantly.
Make the gravy and serve
In a separate pot, combine part of the boiling water, sweet cream, chopped parsley, butter, salt, pepper, and flour.
Boil the gravy for a few moments until thickened.
Pour the gravy over the rabbit and serve immediately.
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.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Rabbit + creamtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together409 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rabbit
- Provides the meat that becomes tender through long simmering in water.
- Sweet cream
- Adds richness and body to the gravy.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavor to the gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy as it boils.
The step that matters
Boil the gravy until thickened. Flour needs to boil for a few moments to swell and thicken the liquid fully. Stopping early leaves a thin, starchy-tasting gravy.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rabbit, cream, butter, flour, pepper):
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Turmericfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against rabbit, cream, butter, 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.
More stewed rabbit recipes
You might also like
Rabbit Patties6 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe 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.