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To Roast a Calf's Liver

A roasted calf's liver stuffed with breadcrumbs, bacon, onions, butter, and egg, served with gravy and currant jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Roast a Calf's Liver

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the liver

  1. Wash the liver thoroughly and wipe it dry.

  2. Cut a long deep hole in the side of the liver.

Stuff and bake

  1. Stuff the hole with breadcrumbs, bacon, chopped onions, salt, pepper, butter, and the egg.

  2. Sew or tie the liver closed and lard it over.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven, basting frequently.

  4. Serve with gravy and currant jelly.

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. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  2. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Liver + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,420 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Liver + buttertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,065 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

Calf's liver
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the stuffing.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb juices from the stuffing, keeping the filling moist and binding it.
Egg
Binds the stuffing together so it holds its shape during baking.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory flavor that seasons the liver from inside.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the stuffing as it melts.

The step that matters

Basting frequently during baking. Liver is lean and dries out quickly in heat. Regular basting with its own juices and fat keeps the interior moist and the surface from toughening.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Chivefits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

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