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Liver Fried As Cutlets

Thin slices of calf liver are coated in egg and crackers, then fried and served with tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,469 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Liver Fried As Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the liver

  1. Cut the liver into thin slices.

  2. Scald the slices.

  3. Wipe the liver dry.

Bread and fry

  1. Beat the egg in a bowl.

  2. Dip the liver slices in the egg.

  3. Coat them with powdered crackers.

  4. Fry the coated liver slices in a pan until browned.

Serve

  1. Serve with tomato 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. Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,469 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Liver + tomatotop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together146 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).

  3. Liver + saucetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together499 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

  4. Egg + livertop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,177 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + tomatotop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,890 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Calves liver
Is the main protein, cooked through and browned on the outside as the cutlet.
Egg
Binds the powdered crackers to the liver slices so the coating stays on during frying.
Powdered crackers
Forms a crisp, browned crust that contrasts with the soft interior of the liver.
Tomato sauce
Adds acidity and moisture that balance the rich flavor of the liver.

The step that matters

Wipe the liver dry. Surface moisture keeps the egg and cracker coating from adhering well and steams the crust instead of letting it brown in the pan.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, liver, sauce):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Horseradishfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, liver, sauce. 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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