Name: Croquettes of Cold Beef or Mutton
Ingredients: 2 cups cold beef or mutton, finely chopped; ¼ cup all-purpose flour; 1 onion, chopped; 1 sprig parsley, chopped; 2 cups bread crumbs; 1 large egg; lard for frying

Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Croquettes of Cold Beef or Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

In a bowl, combine the chopped meat, flour, onion, parsley, and bread crumbs.
Add the egg and mix until well combined.
Shape the mixture into oval cakes or egg-shaped balls.

Fry

Heat enough lard in a frying pan to cover the croquettes.
Once the lard is hot, carefully add the croquettes and fry until golden brown on all sides.

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.

Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,675 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,032 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold beef or mutton: Provides the main body and savoury flavour of the croquettes.
Bread crumbs: Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold its shape.
Egg: Binds the mixture together so the croquettes hold their shape while frying.
All-purpose flour: Helps absorb moisture and bind the mixture for a firmer texture.

The step that matters

Fry in hot lard. The lard must be hot before the croquettes go in. Hot fat sets the outside quickly and gives a golden, crisp crust, while cooler fat lets the croquettes soak up grease and fall apart.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour, parsley, bread, egg):

Shallotfits better
Chivefits better
Leekfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour, parsley, bread, 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.

More beef croquettes recipes

Corned 5 Corn 3 See all 66 →

Brown Bread461 recipes

Roast Beef211 recipes

Beef Loaf175 recipes

Corned Beef87 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Croquettes of Cold Beef or Mutton