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Tumble of Cold Meat

A casserole of chopped cold meat, bread crumbs, butter, eggs, stock, and seasonings baked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Tumble of Cold Meat

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

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Combine the chopped meat, bread crumbs, butter, eggs, stock or milk, salt, pepper, onion juice, parsley, and Worcestershire sauce in a large bowl, then mix well.

  3. Spoon the mixture into buttered cups or a baking dish.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the cups or dish in a pan of warm water and cover with greased paper.

  2. Bake for 1 hour.

  3. Fifteen minutes before done, remove the paper to let it brown.

  4. Serve with brown sauce.

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

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

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable custard-like texture when baked.
Cooked meat
Provides the main body and savory flavor of the casserole.
Soft bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and add soft structure so the mixture holds together.
Stock or milk
Adds moisture so the mixture stays tender rather than dry during baking.
Butter
Adds richness and fat for a softer, more tender texture.

The step that matters

Baking in a water bath. Setting the cups or dish in warm water moderates the oven heat so the eggs set gently. Without it, the edges can overcook and turn rubbery before the centre is set.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, bread, butter, egg, milk, pepper, parsley):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, bread, butter, egg, milk, pepper, parsley. 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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