Why it works: Butter and bread match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 27,145 recipes mention both. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, wheat, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: scallop
Directions
Prepare the brains
Remove all fibers and skins from the brains and soak them in several changes of water.
Cook
Boil the brains in salted water with butter and vinegar until cooked.
Cut bread into scallop shell shapes and fry in butter until golden.
Serve
Place the fried bread in a dish, divide the brains in half, and lay them on top.
Pour Maitre d'Hotel sauce over the brains and serve hot.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Butter + breadtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together27,145 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Pepper + vinegartop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,805 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + breadtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together85,512 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Butter + vinegartop 14% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together13,453 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Calf's brains
- Form the main body of the dish, giving a soft, delicate texture when cooked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor, and browns the bread for frying.
- Vinegar
- Adds a slight acidity that brightens the mild flavor of the brains.
The step that matters
Removing fibers and skins before cooking. Membranes and fibers left in the brains stay tough and chewy after cooking, so they must be removed and the brains soaked to clean them.
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.