Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
To Pot Rabbits
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the rabbits into pieces and remove the leg bones at the thigh.
Season the pieces with black pepper, allspice, mace, cayenne, and salt.
Pack the seasoned rabbit pieces tightly in a small pan, smoothing the top.
Add a generous amount of butter on top.
Bake gently until cooked through.
Let it sit in the pan for 2 days before transferring to small pots, adding more butter and the livers.
Store in the refrigerator.
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.
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Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + macetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,189 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Rabbit + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,448 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Rabbit + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,334 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-pentylpyridine (fat).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rabbit, pepper, allspice, butter):
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rabbit, pepper, allspice, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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