Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,092 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Dutch Dish
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mixture
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine veal or fish remnants, soaked bread, chopped onion, salt, ground clove, melted butter, grated lemon peel, and beaten egg yolks.
Bake
Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the mixture.
Transfer the mixture to a pudding dish and bake for 30-40 minutes.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Tea + lemontop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together610 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Clove + lemontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Beaten until stiff, they trap air and give the pudding a light, risen texture.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and enrich it, helping it set as it bakes.
- Bread soaked in beef tea
- Adds body and absorbs liquid, giving the pudding its soft, pudding-like crumb.
- Veal or fish remnants
- Provides the main protein, which firms and sets as the pudding cooks.
- Melted butter
- Adds richness and moisture, keeping the finished pudding tender.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiffly beaten whites hold air that makes the pudding light. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so fold gently and keep the mixture airy.
Flavor stand-ins for the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, bread, beef, tea, onion, butter, lemon):
- Parsleybetter flavor fit
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Sagebetter flavor fit
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, bread, beef, tea, onion, butter, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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