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Liver

A smooth spread made from mashed liver, butter, mustard, salt, cayenne pepper, and anchovy sauce or mushroom catsup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Liver

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mash the liver smooth on a hot water plate.

  2. Add a little butter, mustard, salt, and cayenne pepper, then mix in the anchovy sauce or mushroom catsup.

  3. Serve as a spread or filling.

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. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

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

  2. Liver + anchovytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together199 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).

  3. Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,697 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Liver + mustardtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together132 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Mustard + anchovytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together590 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Liver
Forms the smooth base of the spread and supplies its rich, savoury flavour.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, creamier texture and richer mouthfeel.
Mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavour that cuts the richness of the liver.
Anchovy sauce or mushroom catsup
Adds salty, umami depth that rounds out the liver flavour.

The step that matters

Mash the liver smooth on a hot water plate. Liver left with lumps or fibres gives a grainy spread. Mashing while it is still warm lets it break down more easily and blend evenly with the butter.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, butter, pepper, anchovy):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Onionfits better
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against liver, butter, pepper, anchovy. 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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