Name: Chile Con Carne
Ingredients: 50% beef cheek meat, fresh; 30% hog cheek meat, fresh; 20% beef suet, fresh; 6 ounces garlic, minced; 3 ounces cumin seeds; 3 ounces oregano; 8 ounces Chilean Colorado chili powder; 2 pounds coarse sea salt

Why it works: Cumin and oregano match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 983 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Chile Con Carne

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

Grind the beef cheek meat, hog cheek meat, and beef suet together.
Mix in the minced garlic, cumin seeds, oregano, chili powder, and coarse sea salt, then thoroughly combine all ingredients.

Rest

Spread the mixture 6 to 8 inches thick and let it rest for 12 hours at 35°F to 38°F.

Stuff and cook

Stuff the mixture into beef middles, hog bungs, or frizzles.
Cook the stuffed mixture like bologna.

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.

Cumin + oreganotop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together983 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Garlic + cumintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,082 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Garlic + oreganotop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,756 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Beef + meattop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,533 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Beef + garlictop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,165 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef cheek meat: Forms the main meaty body and protein structure of the mixture.
Hog cheek meat: Adds richness and body alongside the beef, giving a firm, sliceable texture.
Beef suet: Fat that carries flavor and keeps the cooked sausage moist and tender.
Garlic: Contributes pungent aroma and savory depth.
Cumin seeds: Provides warm, earthy aroma that defines the chili flavor.
Chilean colorado chili powder: Supplies chili heat, color and smoky-sweet flavor throughout the mixture.

The step that matters

Resting the mixture cold. The 12-hour rest at 35°F to 38°F is the step most likely to be rushed. Keeping the mixture cold stops the fat from smearing and slows bacterial growth, while the rest lets the salt and seasonings spread evenly through the meat before stuffing.