Name: Sweetbreads, Baked
Ingredients: sweetbreads; egg; bread crumbs; beef dripping

Why it works: Bread and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,032 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Sweetbreads, Baked

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

sweetbreads
egg
bread crumbs
beef dripping

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.

Soak and prepare the sweetbreads as directed for calf’s sweetbreads.
Dry the sweetbreads, then dip them in beaten egg and coat with bread crumbs.
Place the sweetbreads on a baking dish and add small lumps of beef dripping around them.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes, basting frequently.
Serve on slices of toast with rich brown gravy.

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.

Bread + beeftop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,032 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Egg + beeftop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).