Why it works: Pepper and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Ox Cheek Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ox-head
Remove the eye from the ox-head.
Crack the side bones of the ox-head.
Soak the ox-head in water overnight.
Cook and shape
In a saucepan, cover the ox-head with water and boil gently, skimming carefully.
Once the meat loosens from the bone, remove it with a skimmer.
Place the meat in a bowl.
Remove all bones from the meat.
Chop the meat finely.
Season the chopped meat with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Tie the mixture in a cloth.
Press the clothed mixture with a heavy weight.
Once cold, cut the cheese into slices.
Serve the slices.
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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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Half an ox-head
- Provides the meat and gelatinous connective tissue that bind the chopped mixture into a firm cheese.
The step that matters
Skimming while the ox-head boils. Skimming removes foam and impurities that rise to the surface during gentle boiling, keeping the broth and the finished meat clean in flavour and appearance.
“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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