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Meat Loaf

A baked loaf of ground meat, eggs, crackers, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Meat Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, mix together the chopped meat, eggs, rolled crackers, salt, sage, butter, sweet milk, and pepper until well combined.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a round baking tin.

Bake

  1. Baste the top with butter and water as it begins to brown.

  2. Bake for 30 minutes.

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. Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Veal + sagetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together670 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Sage + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,312 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal or beef steak
Provides the main protein and the firm, sliceable body of the loaf.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and help it set as the loaf cooks.
Crackers
Absorb liquid and add starch that keeps the loaf moist and tender.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture that keeps the meat from drying out during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps the top brown when basted.

The step that matters

Basting the top as it browns. Butter and water on the surface add moisture and fat, helping the top brown evenly rather than drying or scorching before the centre is cooked through.

Swap the sage

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Sagethe original
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

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