Name: A Scotch Haggis
Ingredients: 1 sheep's pluck; ½ lb beef suet; 3-4 onions; 1 cup finely ground oatmeal flour; salt; pepper; cayenne

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 ↓

A Scotch Haggis

Ingredients

Directions

Clean the sheep's pluck and cut slits in the heart and liver to let out blood.
Parboil the pluck for 30-45 minutes, changing the water as needed.
Remove the pluck, cut off half the liver, and boil it longer.
Trim skin and dark parts from the remaining liver, heart, and lights, then mince them together with beef suet and onions.
Grate the boiled liver and mix it with the minced mixture, adding more onions if desired.
Toast the oatmeal flour until light brown, stirring frequently.
Spread the minced mixture on a board, season with salt, pepper, and cayenne, and sprinkle with toasted oatmeal flour.
Prepare the haggis bag and fill it with the mixture, ensuring it is secure.

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).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32,460 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).