Why it works: Meat and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,594 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Potted Meats
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Pound the tender roasted meat in a mortar until it becomes a smooth paste, free from lumps or unbroken fibers.
Gradually add cold fresh butter while continuing to pound until well blended.
Mix in appropriate spices based on the type of meat used.
Ensure the mixture is thoroughly combined and has a mellow flavor.
Store
Store in a cool place immediately after preparation.
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.
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Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Butter + macetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,405 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Meat + macetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,339 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Butter and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,405 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
- Tender roasted meat
- Forms the smooth paste that gives the potted meat its body.
- Cold fresh butter
- Adds fat that makes the paste rich and spreadable when blended in.
The step that matters
Pounding the meat until smooth. Fibers and lumps left in the meat keep the paste coarse. Working the meat fully smooth and adding the cold butter gradually lets the fat emulsify evenly into a spreadable texture.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, butter):
- Thymefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, butter. 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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