Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Forcemeat Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Take half a pound of veal and half a pound of suet cut fine, and beat in a marble mortar or wooden bowl.
Add a few sweet herbs shredded fine, a little mace pounded fine, a small nutmeg grated, a little lemon peel, some pepper and salt, and the yolks of two eggs.
Mix them well together, and make them into balls and long pieces.
Shape and cook
Roll them in flour, and fry them brown.
If they are for the use of white sauce, do not fry them, but put them in a sauce-pan of hot water and let them boil a few minutes.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Veal | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
- Veal
- Forms the bulk of the balls, giving them a meaty body and firm structure.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the meatballs moist and tender as they cook.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture so the meatballs hold their shape.
- Nutmeg
- Adds a warm, aromatic flavor that complements the meat.
The step that matters
Frying the meatballs brown. Flour and hot fat brown the outside through browning reactions that add color and flavor. If the heat is too high, the outside can scorch before the centre cooks through, so moderate heat gives even results.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, egg, nutmeg, lemon, pepper):
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Sagefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg, nutmeg, lemon, 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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