Name: Albanian Meat with Walnuts
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp flour; 15 shelled walnuts , finely crushed; 2 egg yolks , beaten; 1 garlic clove, minced; ¼ lb (1 stick / 8 tbsp) butter; 2–3 lbs of veal or chicken meat, cut into 1- inch cubes

Why it works: Walnut and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,592 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Albanian Meat with Walnuts

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp flour
15 shelled walnuts , finely crushed
2 egg yolks , beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ lb (1 stick / 8 tbsp) butter
2–3 lbs of veal or chicken meat, cut into 1- inch cubes

Directions

Cook the meat

Place the meat or chicken in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until tender.
Remove the meat and set it aside in a dish, leaving the remaining juices in the saucepan.

Make the walnut sauce

In another saucepan, add the flour and stir over heat until it becomes light brown in color—do not overcook. Then add half the butter.
Add the walnuts, garlic, and egg yolks, stirring constantly.
Add the meat juices from the other saucepan and stir until all the ingredients thicken.
Immediately remove from the heat to avoid solidifying the egg yolks.
Fold in the meat.

Finish and serve

Pan fry the remaining half stick of butter until brown, and pour over the dish before serving.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

837Calories

51 gProtein

24 gFat

98 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Walnut	1 walnut half (4g)	26
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Veal	not in our table	0
Meat	not in our table	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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.

Walnut + clovetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,592 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Garlic + clovetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,368 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Walnut + garlictop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,009 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Browned with butter, it thickens the sauce and gives it a nutty depth.
Walnuts: Ground walnuts add body and a rich, earthy flavor to the sauce.
Egg yolks: They thicken the sauce as they heat and help it turn creamy.
Butter: Adds richness and flavor, and browned butter adds a toasty aroma.
Veal or chicken meat: The main protein, cooked until tender and folded into the sauce.

The step that matters

Removing the sauce from the heat. Egg yolks set and turn grainy when overheated, so the sauce should come off the heat as soon as it thickens.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, walnut, egg, clove, butter, veal):

Nutmegfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Capersfits better
Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, walnut, egg, clove, butter, veal. 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.