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Iiam and Liver

A baked mixture of calf's liver, ham, gravy, bread crumbs, eggs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓

Iiam and Liver

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil the liver and chop it finely.

  2. If you don't have cold ham, buy a slice, boil it, and chop it.

  3. Mix the chopped liver and ham with the soup stock.

  4. Stir in the seasoning, eggs, and bread crumbs.

Steam and serve

  1. Grease a Boston brown bread mold or a small tin pail with a tight-fitting lid.

  2. Put the mixture into the mold, fit on the lid, and place it in a vessel of boiling water, ensuring the water does not reach the top of the mold.

  3. Boil for 2 hours, then turn out and pour 1 cup of good drawn butter over it.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

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

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's liver
Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it a rich, meaty flavor.
Ham
Adds salty, savory flavor and firmness to the chopped mixture.
Eggs
Bind the chopped meats and bread crumbs so the loaf holds its shape when cooked.
Fine bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and give the loaf a tender, sliceable body.

The step that matters

Keep the water below the top of the mold. If boiling water reaches the lid or top of the mold, it can seep in and make the loaf waterlogged. Keeping the water level below the mold lets the mixture cook gently in steam and hold a firm texture.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, ham, bread, egg, parsley, pepper):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against liver, ham, bread, egg, parsley, 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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