Name: Mock Terrapin
Ingredients: ½ calf's liver; 2 ounces butter; ½ pint water; ⅓ cup wine; 1 teaspoon mixed mustard; cayenne pepper to taste; 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped fine

Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mock Terrapin

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the liver

Season the liver with coarse sea salt and fry it until brown.
Cut the liver into small bits and dredge them well with flour.

Make the sauce

Add the mustard, cayenne pepper, water, eggs, and butter.
Let it boil for 1-2 minutes.
Add the wine.

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.

Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Liver + mustardtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together132 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Wine + peppertop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,066 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's liver: Forms the meaty body of the dish and browns when fried.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
Hard-boiled eggs: Add body and richness to the sauce as finely chopped pieces.
Wine: Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich liver and butter.
Mixed mustard: Adds sharp, tangy flavour that cuts through the richness.