Name: Potted Head
Ingredients: 1 calf's head, chopped and dressed; ½ pig's head, chopped and dressed; Coarse sea salt, for soaking; Cold water, for boiling; 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon; ¼ teaspoon allspice; Salt, to taste; Pepper, to taste; 1 cup sherry

Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Potted Head

Ingredients

Directions

Scrape and wash the heads in salt and water, then soak in fresh water for 2 hours.
Place the heads in a pot of cold water and boil until the meat is tender.
Remove the meat, cut it into dice, and return the bones to the pot. Boil gently for 3 hours.
Strain the broth through a colander into a bowl and let it stand overnight.
Remove the grease from the broth, then add jelly, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and pepper.
Mix in the diced meat and bring to a boil.
Add the sherry and pour the mixture into molds.

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.

Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,536 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Cinnamon + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,890 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).
Cinnamon + sherrytop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together649 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Allspice + sherrytop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together339 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).