Name: Rissoles of Chicken
Ingredients: remains of a cold chicken; ½ the quantity of lean, cold ham; white sauce; light paste; lard or other frying medium

Why it works: Chicken and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,497 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Rissoles of Chicken

Ingredients

Directions

Finely mince the remains of a cold chicken and half the quantity of lean, cold ham.
Mix them well, adding enough white sauce to moisten the mixture.
Roll out light paste to about ¼ inch thick.
Cut the paste into pieces, 1 inch by 2 inches.
Place a little of the mixture on the center of half the pieces and cover with the other halves.
Press the edges together to form little rolls.
Heat plenty of boiling lard or other frying medium in a frying pan.
Fry the rissoles until golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.
Drain well and serve immediately on a napkin.

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.

Chicken + hamtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,497 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ham + saucetop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,314 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Chicken + saucetop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,513 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).