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Very Fine Brain Croquettes

A fried patty made from cooked brains, breadcrumbs, eggs, and milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Very Fine Brain Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Chop the cooked brains finely.

  2. In a bowl, mix the chopped brains, breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, salt, and pepper until well combined.

  3. Shape the mixture into small patties or croquettes.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat.

  2. Fry the croquettes until golden brown on all sides.

  3. Drain on paper towels before serving.

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. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together26,984 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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

Cooked brains
Form the main body of the croquettes and give them their rich, savoury flavour.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold its shape while frying.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together so the croquettes hold their shape.
Milk
Adds moisture so the mixture stays soft inside the croquettes.

The step that matters

Fry the croquettes until golden brown on all sides. Frying over medium heat browns the outside through the Maillard reaction while the centre heats through. Too high a heat would brown the outside before the inside is hot, and too low a heat would leave the croquettes greasy and pale.

“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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