Why it works: Mace and nutmeg 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 ↓
Fricassee Rabbit
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine the minced onion, mace, nutmeg, pepper, and salt pork. Cover and stew until tender.
Remove the rabbits and place them in a warm dish.
Add cream, beaten eggs (stir in gradually), butter, and a thickening made from flour and a little milk to the gravy.
Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice.
Pour the sauce over the rabbits. Do not cook the head or neck.
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.
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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + porktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, nutmeg, pepper, pork, cream, egg, butter):
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, nutmeg, pepper, pork, cream, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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