Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Brawn, to Make
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and boil
Cut off the cheeks and salt them, unless the head is small, then use all of it.
Clean the head thoroughly and place it in enough cold water to cover it, along with the beef.
Skim the water just before it boils.
Boil for 2 to 3 hours until the meat comes off the bones easily.
Shape and set
Remove the head from the pot and place it in a hot pan.
Remove the bones and chop the meat with a sharp knife.
Mix in the seasoning and stir well.
Quickly transfer the mixture into a brawn tin or cake tin, pressing it down with weights.
Do not remove the weights for several hours.
Once cold, dip the tin in boiling water for 1-2 minutes to release the brawn.
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 + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + clovetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,462 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pig's head
- Provides collagen-rich meat and skin that gelatinise during boiling, binding the brawn as it sets.
- Lean beef
- Adds meaty flavour and extra lean meat to the set mass.
- Salt
- Seasons the meat and helps draw out flavour during the cooked, pressed mixture.
The step that matters
Skim the water just before it boils. Skimming removes foam and impurities that would cloud the broth and taste bitter, giving a cleaner-flavoured, clearer set jelly.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper):
- Rosemaryfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper. 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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