Name: Stewed Terrapin with Cream
Ingredients: flesh of terrapin, cut into small pieces; pepper, to taste; coarse sea salt, to taste; 2 tablespoons butter, divided; 1 cup hot water; 2 cups rich milk; thickening (such as cornstarch or flour); hot tea biscuits or buttered toast, for serving

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Stewed Terrapin with Cream

Ingredients

flesh of terrapin, cut into small pieces
pepper, to taste
coarse sea salt, to taste
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup hot water
2 cups rich milk
thickening (such as cornstarch or flour)
hot tea biscuits or buttered toast, for serving

Directions

Stew the terrapin

In a stew-pan, combine the terrapin pieces, pepper, salt, and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat.
Let it stew for a few minutes, then add the hot water and remaining butter.
Stew for 10 minutes, then add the milk and stew for another 5 minutes.

Thicken and serve

Remove the pan from heat and stir in the thickening.
Cover the pan and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Serve the terrapin and sauce over hot tea biscuits or buttered toast.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + teatop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together738 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + teatop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together260 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Flesh of terrapin: Forms the main body of the stew, becoming tender as it simmers slowly in liquid.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour through the stewed meat and sauce.
Rich milk: Builds the creamy body of the sauce and adds milk fat and sweetness.
Thickening: Starch swells with heat to thicken the liquid into a smooth, coating sauce.

The step that matters

Stirring in the thickening off the heat. Starch thickens best when it is dispersed evenly and then gently heated. Adding it to a boiling, unstirred liquid can cause lumps, so stir it in smoothly while the pan is off the heat.

“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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Stewed Terrapin with Cream