Why it works: Pepper and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Baked Hash
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Parboil the onions, then mince them along with the meat.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the minced meat and onions.
Mix and season
Mix in the bread crumbs, melted butter or dripping, beaten eggs, and enough milk to moisten.
Season with pepper, salt, and optional herbs or acid to taste.
Bake and serve
Transfer the mixture to a greased baking pan and smooth the top.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 15-20 minutes until light brown.
Serve directly from the baking pan.
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.
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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cooked beef, veal, or mutton
- Provides the bulk and meaty texture of the hash.
- Eggs
- Bind the minced meat and crumbs together so the mixture holds its shape.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and add body, keeping the hash tender rather than dense.
- Melted butter, beef dripping, or lard
- Adds fat and richness, and helps the top brown in the oven.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aroma as they soften and mellow during parboiling.
Swap the thyme
The recipe marks thyme as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, bread, butter, egg, milk, pepper):
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Garlicfits about as well
- Thymethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, bread, butter, egg, milk, 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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