Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Sweetbread Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sweetbreads
Parboil the sweetbreads.
Simmer them slowly in a little soup stock or water until done.
Chop them finely.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, combine corn starch, water, vinegar, cream, and beaten eggs over low heat to thicken.
Season the mixture with pepper, coarse sea salt, celery, nutmeg, and parsley.
Stir in the chopped sweetbreads.
Boil for five minutes.
Spread the mixture on a dish to cool.
Cut into pieces.
Fry and serve
Roll the pieces in bread crumbs.
Fry in hot lard until golden brown.
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.
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Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweetbreads
- Provide the main meaty filling that gives the croquettes their body and flavor.
- Eggs
- Bind the cream mixture and help it set firmly when heated.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the cream mixture so it holds together and can be cut into pieces.
- Cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the filling.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating that browns when fried.
The step that matters
Spread the mixture on a dish to cool. The filling must cool and firm up before it is cut and rolled; if it is cut while warm it will be soft and may fall apart in the crumbs and hot lard.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (corn, vinegar, cream, egg, pepper, nutmeg, parsley):
- Tarragonfits better
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Dillfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against corn, vinegar, cream, egg, pepper, nutmeg, parsley. 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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