Why it works: Beef and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. The science ↓
Beef Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine the chopped beef, pork, pepper, salt, sage, lemon juice, and flour.
Add the egg and mix until well combined.
Form the mixture into small balls.
Fry and serve
Heat butter or lard in a sauté pan over medium heat.
Fry the balls until golden brown on all sides.
Serve hot with tomato sauce or brown sauce, or plain.
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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Beef + porktop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
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Sage + lemontop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together887 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold cooked beef
- Forms the main body of the croquettes and gives them their meaty flavour.
- Pork
- Adds fat and moisture so the croquettes stay tender rather than dry.
- Egg
- Binds the chopped meat together so the balls hold their shape.
- Flour
- Absorbs moisture and helps the mixture firm up enough to shape.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich meat flavour.
The step that matters
Fry the balls until golden brown on all sides. Browning forms a flavourful crust through the Maillard reaction, and turning the balls so every side contacts the hot fat gives an even crust. Too little heat leaves them pale and greasy.
“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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