Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Black Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the rice in 1 quart of milk until tender.
Mix the cooked rice with the bread crumbs.
Season with salt, black pepper, cloves, and mace.
Add the minced herbs, suet, inward fat, and beaten eggs.
Stir in the prepared blood until well combined.
Divide the mixture into three portions and fill cleaned casings.
Tie the ends and boil in hot water for 30 minutes.
Prick the puddings with a large needle and boil for an additional 30 minutes.
Once cooled, hang in a cool, dry place.
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 + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Rice + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,265 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, rice, bread, beef, egg, pepper, clove):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, rice, bread, beef, egg, pepper, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More black pudding recipes
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