Name: Scalloped Calf's Head
Ingredients: 1 calf's head; 1 tongue; 1 heart; Brains from the calf's head; Coarse sea salt; Black pepper; Generous glass of Madeira or sherry; Bread crumbs; Butter

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scalloped Calf's Head

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the calf's head, tongue, heart, and brains separately in just enough water to cover them, over low heat.
Once nearly done, remove from heat and cut all the meat from the bones.
Chop the meat and place it in a baking dish in alternate layers.
Pour the cooking liquid over the layers and season with salt and pepper.
When almost done baking, pour a generous glass of Madeira or sherry on top.
Add layers of bread crumbs and butter between the meat layers, finishing with a layer of bread crumbs and butter.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sherry + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,505 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Sherry + breadtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together682 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,964 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper + sherrytop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).