Name: Rissoles, or Croquettes
Ingredients: 1½ pounds cold meat (roast beef, fowl, or veal); a few slices of ham (raw or boiled); coarse sea salt (to taste); white pepper (to taste); a pinch of nutmeg; a tiny shred of onion (chopped to powder); a little chopped parsley; 2 ounces butter; 1 tablespoon flour; 1 cup milk; 1 cup stock; 2 tablespoons bread crumbs; 3 eggs (lightly beaten); a little catsup, tomato sauce, or Worcestershire sauce; a little grated lemon peel (optional); lard (for frying)

Why it works: Nutmeg and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,062 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

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.

Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,062 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,623 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,675 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

Cold meat: Forms the main body of the filling, providing flavour and bulk.
Butter: Enriches the base and carries the flour, adding richness and a smooth texture.
Flour: Thickens the milk and stock into a binding sauce that holds the filling together.
Eggs: Bind the mixture when set and add richness; the beaten egg also helps the outer coating adhere.
Bread crumbs: Stiffen the filling and form the crisp, golden outer coating when fried.

The step that matters

Cooking the flour into the milk and stock. Flour must be cooked out until its raw, pasty taste is gone. Stirring as the liquid is added prevents lumps, and the starch gelatinises to form a thick sauce that binds the filling.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, ham, nutmeg, onion, parsley, butter, flour):

Thymefits better
Capersfits better
Marjoramfits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, ham, nutmeg, onion, parsley, butter, flour. 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.

Rissoles, or Croquettes