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Rissoles

A set mould of diced veal and ham simmered in water, then set with gelatine and hard-boiled eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Rissoles

Why it works: Onion and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,843 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Rissoles

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jelly

  1. In a saucepan, combine the diced veal and ham with enough water to cover them.

  2. If desired, add a small piece of onion.

  3. Simmer for one hour.

  4. Five minutes before finishing, add the chopped parsley.

  5. Soak the gelatine in a teacup of cold water, then add it to the mixture with the parsley.

Mould and set

  1. Butter a mould and line the bottom and sides with the diced hard-boiled eggs.

  2. Pour the meat mixture into the mould.

  3. Let it set overnight, then turn it out onto a dish.

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.

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.

  1. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Ham + meattop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Provides the main meat body and flavour once simmered into the jelly.
Ham
Adds savoury, salty flavour to the meat mixture.
Gelatine
Sets the cooking liquid into a firm jelly that holds its shape when turned out.
Hard-boiled eggs
Form a decorative lining and add firmness and contrast when sliced.

The step that matters

Soak the gelatine in cold water before adding it. Gelatine must hydrate in cold water first so it dissolves evenly into the hot mixture; added dry or in lumps, it can leave gritty patches and weak setting.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, meat, parsley, egg, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, meat, parsley, egg, butter. 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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