Why it works: Vinegar and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Fried Brains, or in Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Dress and wash the brains, then let them drain well.
Cut the brains into small pieces and soak them for 2 hours in a mixture of vinegar, oil, coarse sea salt, and black pepper.
Heat a frying pan and fry the soaked brains until cooked through.
Prepare a fritter batter, dip the pieces of brain in it, and fry until they are a fine yellow color.
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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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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