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Scalloped Meats

A baked dish of minced meats layered with crumbs and topped with a custard of eggs and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Scalloped Meats

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Season the minced meats with butter, pepper, and salt.

Assemble

  1. In a deep pan, layer the seasoned meat and a layer of crumbs.

  2. Beat the eggs and mix them with the milk or water.

  3. Pour the egg mixture over the meat and crumbs.

  4. Ensure there is a thick layer of crumbs on top.

Bake

  1. Bake in the preheated oven until golden.

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.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Pepper + biscuittop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together841 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Meat + biscuittop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together159 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,594 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + biscuittop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,009 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold meats
Form the main body of the dish, with their flavour carried through the layers.
Eggs
Bind with the milk to set the custard that holds the dish together.
Milk
Moistens the crumbs and meat and forms the custard with the eggs.
Crumbs
Absorb the liquid and form a crisp, browned top layer.

The step that matters

Ensure there is a thick layer of crumbs on top. The crumbs soak up the egg and milk mixture and brown in the oven. A thin layer can dry out or leave the custard exposed and soggy beneath.

“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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