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Pork Mould

A baked pork mixture of roast pork, mashed potato, onion, and sour cream, coated with breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pork Mould

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Remove the skin and most of the fat from the pork and chop it finely.

  2. Add the onion and mashed potato to the pork.

  3. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in enough sour cream or milk to bind the mixture.

Bake or fry

  1. Coat a well-buttered mold or pie dish with brown breadcrumbs.

  2. Press the mixture into the mold and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.

  3. Alternatively, form the mixture into small cakes, coat with egg and breadcrumbs, and fry.

  4. Prepare gravy from the bones and trimmings of the meat to serve separately.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold roast pork
Forms the bulk of the loaf and gives it its meaty flavour and body.
Mashed potato
Adds softness and moisture, helping the loaf stay tender rather than dry.
Sour cream or milk
Moistens the mixture and binds the chopped meat together so it holds its shape.
Brown breadcrumbs
Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the loaf or cakes.

The step that matters

Binding the mixture with sour cream or milk. Too little liquid leaves the chopped cooked pork crumbly and dry, while the starch from the potato helps it hold together. Add liquid gradually until the mixture just holds its shape.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, potato, cream, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Onionthe original
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, potato, cream, 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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