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Potted Meat

Meat that has not been previously salted will not keep as long.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Potted Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mince the remains of game or poultry, or a large joint of meat.

  2. Add some of the fat or a little butter to the minced meat.

  3. Beat the mixture in a mortar with your choice of seasoning.

  4. For a richer flavor, moisten with Mushroom Catsup or Essence of Anchovy.

  5. If desired, add a splash of Claret wine and a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg.

  6. Season with coarse sea salt, ground black pepper, and allspice to taste.

  7. Store in a cool place; it will keep for up to two days.

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. Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Mushroom + winetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  5. Beef + meattop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,533 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

Swap the allspice

The recipe marks allspice as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, butter, mushroom, anchovy, wine, cinnamon):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, butter, mushroom, anchovy, wine, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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