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Crispy Haggis and Potato Pancake with a Spinach Salad and Warm Whisky and Bacon Dressing

A perfect introduction to haggis for the uninitiated. You could even forgo the salad to make a delicious breakfast treat.

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Why it works: Pepper and whisky work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 115 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 2
Prep30 min
Cook30 min

Ingredients

Contains: egg (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Peel the potatoes if needed, then coarsely grate them into a bowl. Squeeze out as much liquid as you can with your hands or a clean cloth.

  2. Crumble the haggis into the potatoes, add 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, the 2 tbsp chopped chives and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and mix well. Shape into one or two flat cakes.

  3. Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Fry the potato and haggis cake for 5 to 6 minutes per side until crisp and golden, and the haggis is heated through to 160°F (71°C).

  4. Meanwhile, cut the pancetta into small pieces and fry in a separate dry pan over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until crisp. Remove the pancetta, leaving the fat in the pan.

  5. Slice the mushrooms thinly and chop the tomatoes. Add the mushrooms to the pancetta fat and cook for 2 minutes, then stir in the grainy mustard, red wine vinegar and whisky and let it bubble for 30 seconds.

  6. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the remaining 3 tbsp olive oil to make a warm dressing. Season with black pepper.

  7. Put the baby spinach and chopped tomatoes in a bowl, pour over half the warm dressing and toss gently. Divide between two plates.

  8. Fry the 2 eggs in a little oil in a clean pan until the whites are set and the yolks are still soft, or cook to your liking. Set an egg on each pancake and serve with the spinach salad, the crispy pancetta scattered over, and the remaining dressing spooned around.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Pepper + whiskytop 15% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together115 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,164 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together34,118 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Tomato + red winetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Spinach + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, egg, spinach, mushroom, chive, tomato, red wine):

  1. Garlicbetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Basilabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, egg, spinach, mushroom, chive, tomato, red wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).