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 ↓
Fricasseed Eels
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the eels into 2-inch pieces.
Boil the eels in water until tender.
Finish and serve
In a separate bowl, mix the butter with the flour or cracker crumbs and parsley.
Add the butter mixture to the eels along with salt, pepper, and vinegar if desired.
Let the mixture simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve hot.
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 + 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).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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
- Eels
- Provide the main protein and body of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the sauce.
- Flour or cracker crumbs
- Thicken the cooking liquid so it clings lightly to the eels.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich butter and eel flavour.
The step that matters
Add the butter mixture and simmer gently. Flour or crumbs stirred into hot liquid can clump if not blended in well first, leaving lumps in the sauce. A gentle simmer lets the starch thicken evenly without scorching or breaking the butter.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, pepper, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Turmericfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, pepper, vinegar. 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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