Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Meat Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Chop the lean parts of the fowl or veal.
Moisten the meat with butter and flour mixed smoothly.
Add the finely chopped onion.
Place in a saucepan over medium heat with pepper and salt.
If too dry, add boiled cream or white broth. Stir well.
As it warms, rapidly stir in the egg yolks. Cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove and let cool.
Shape and fry
Divide into pieces and roll into small bolster shapes.
Coat each piece in grated bread.
Fry until golden brown. Drain well.
Serve hot.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean fowl or veal
- Provides the main body of the croquette filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and carries flavour through the filling.
- Flour
- Mixed with butter to thicken and bind the meat so it holds its shape.
- Egg yolks
- Stirred in during warming to bind the mixture and set it when cooked.
- Boiled cream or white broth
- Adds moisture to a dry mixture so the filling stays soft and tender.
The step that matters
Stirring in the egg yolks. Yolks added to hot meat can scramble or set in lumps if not stirred rapidly. Constant stirring keeps the mixture smooth and evenly bound, which helps the croquettes hold their shape when rolled and fried.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, flour, pepper, cream, egg, bread):
- Leekfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, flour, pepper, cream, egg, bread. 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.
More meat croquettes recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes
Oatmeal Bread51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.