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Forcemeat Balls for Mock-turtle Soups

Spherical forcemeat balls made from veal, eggs, butter, and spices, used in mock-turtle soup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Forcemeat Balls for Mock-turtle Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Make the panada

  1. Soak the crumb of the rolls in the gravy until covered.

  2. Heat in a small saucepan until boiled.

  3. Squeeze out the moisture.

  4. Transfer the panada to an enamelled saucepan.

  5. Stir with a wooden spoon until dry.

  6. Mix in the yolks of the eggs.

  7. Let cool.

Form the balls

  1. Pound the veal in a mortar until smooth.

  2. Add the panada and butter.

  3. Season with nutmeg, mace, salt, and cayenne.

  4. Add ham if desired.

  5. Roll the mixture into balls.

  6. Boil for 12 minutes before adding to the soup.

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. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  4. Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,257 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Rolls
Their crumb soaks up gravy and binds the mixture into a firm, soft paste.
Eggs
Yolks enrich the mixture and help it set and hold its shape when boiled.
Veal
Pounded smooth, it forms the main body of the meat balls.
Fresh butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender texture.
Pale rich gravy
Supplies moisture and savoury flavour to the crumb panada.

The step that matters

Stir the panada until dry. Stirring off the excess moisture before adding the yolks and veal keeps the mixture firm enough to roll into balls and hold together during boiling.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, veal, butter, nutmeg, pepper, ham):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Sagefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, veal, butter, nutmeg, pepper, ham. 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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