Name: Trifles, Savoury
Ingredients: Any kind of cold meat, game, fish, or shellfish; Seasoning of choice; Sauce; Bread crumbs; Oil for greasing

Why it works: Meat and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,924 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Trifles, Savoury

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Mince the cold meat and season it.
Warm the minced meat in a little sauce.
Press a round of thick writing paper into a circular wooden box to create cases.
Lightly oil the inside and outside of the paper cases.
Fill the cases with the warm savoury mince.
Place the cases in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 1-2 minutes.
Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and serve neatly arranged on a napkin.

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.

Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sauce + breadtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,934 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Meat + saucetop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,167 recipes