Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Sheep's Head Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the head
Clean the sheep's head (same as calf's head).
Put it in a pot to stew with the liver and heart, which are well washed.
Add one onion and simmer gently for one and one-half hours.
When done, remove the head and let it cool.
When cold, take the meat from the head, chop it with the heart and liver very finely.
Make the hash
Put the chopped meat, heart, and liver into a stewpan.
Add one large tablespoonful of butter, one pint of water or the liquor in which they were boiled, salt, and pepper.
Stew up once, and serve with squares of toast around the dish.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sheep's head
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through slow simmering and is then chopped for the hash.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the hash a smooth, savoury mouthfeel.
- Onion
- Simmers with the head to add a mild savoury aroma to the cooking liquor.
The step that matters
Simmer gently for one and one-half hours. A gentle simmer lets connective tissue in the head break down slowly, leaving the meat tender. A hard boil toughens the proteins and can make the meat dry and stringy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper. 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.
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