Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
White Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
In a basin, combine breadcrumbs and pour boiling milk over them.
Strain the milk and add soaked crumbs to minced meat, seasoning with salt, pepper, and allspice.
Stir in cream and beaten egg yolks.
Mix in onions and fill cleaned pig's intestines with the mixture.
Place puddings in a saucepan of milk and cook slowly for 20 minutes without boiling.
Let them cool completely, prick with a needle, and grill over a slow fire until done.
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 + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,395 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Allspice + oniontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cream + oniontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,827 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Cream and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,827 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, pepper, cream, egg, onion):
- Nutmegfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, pepper, cream, egg, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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