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German Mock Rabbit

A loaf of seasoned beef and veal bound with eggs and breadcrumbs, baked and served sliced.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

German Mock Rabbit

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the loaf

  1. Mix the chopped beef and veal in a bowl.

  2. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, onion, thyme, and parsley.

  3. Add the bread crumbs and bind the mixture with the raw eggs.

  4. Shape the mixture into a loaf.

Bake and serve

  1. Cover the loaf with egg and bread crumbs.

  2. Line a baking pan with slices of fat salt pork and place the loaf inside.

  3. Baste frequently while baking.

  4. Serve in slices, hot or cold.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Nutmeg + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the main meaty structure and savory flavor of the loaf.
Veal
Adds a mild, tender texture to the meat mixture.
Raw eggs
Bind the mixture together so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help give the loaf a firm, sliceable body.
Fat salt pork
Lines the pan and releases fat that keeps the loaf moist while baking.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth to the meat.

The step that matters

Shaping and binding the loaf. Raw eggs and crumbs must be mixed evenly through the meat so the loaf holds together when sliced. Uneven binding can make it crumble, and the frequent basting helps keep the surface from drying out during baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, parsley, bread):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, pepper, nutmeg, thyme, parsley, 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.

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