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Meat Balls

A savory dish of meat and potato balls fried in butter and lard.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Meat Balls

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Melt the butter into the hot mashed potatoes.

  2. Add the chopped meat, beaten egg, pepper, salt, and mustard.

  3. Beat the mixture until well combined and light.

Shape and fry

  1. Shape the mixture into balls.

  2. Fry the balls in very hot butter and lard.

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. Potato + mustardtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,340 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

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

  5. Meat + mustardtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together855 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped meat
Provides the main body and savory flavor of the meatballs.
Mashed potatoes
Add moisture and softness, keeping the meatballs tender rather than dry.
Egg
Binds the mixture together so the balls hold their shape while frying.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the mixture and contributes to browning in the pan.

The step that matters

Frying in very hot butter and lard. The fat must be very hot so the outside sets and browns quickly, sealing in moisture. Fat that is too cool lets the balls soak up grease and fall apart.

Swap the mustard

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

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, potato, egg, butter, 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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