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Fbekch Forcemeat

A bread panada forcemeat made with ham, white stock, herbs, spices and egg yolks, cooked until dry and thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Fbekch Forcemeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the panada

  1. Soak the crumb of the rolls in milk for about 30 minutes, then squeeze out the milk.

  2. In a stewpan, combine the soaked bread and white stock, and set aside.

Make the flavouring

  1. In a separate stewpan, melt 1 oz. of butter and add the chopped ham, bay leaf, herbs, mushrooms, and spices.

  2. Fry gently over low heat.

  3. Moisten the mixture with ½ cup of white stock, boil for 20 minutes, and strain over the panada in the other stewpan.

Dry and finish

  1. Place the panada over the fire, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

  2. When dry, add a small piece of butter and stir until it dries up again.

  3. Mix in the yolks of 2 eggs, then let the panada cool on a clean plate before using.

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.

  1. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,677 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Penny rolls crumb
Absorbs liquid and forms the bulk and body of the panada.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, keeping the mixture soft and smooth.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture and help it set as it cools.
White stock
Supplies moisture and savoury flavour to the panada.
Ham
Contributes savoury, meaty flavour to the forcemeat.

The step that matters

Drying the panada over the fire. The panada must be stirred constantly while it dries, because the starch and bread sugars scorch quickly on direct heat, leaving a burnt taste and colour. Stopping at the right dryness keeps it smooth and workable.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, ham, parsley, shallot, clove, mushroom, egg):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, ham, parsley, shallot, clove, mushroom, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.