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Forcemeat, to Force Fowls or Meat

A forcemeat mixture of ham, veal or fowl, suet, onion, breadcrumbs, eggs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Forcemeat, to Force Fowls or Meat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine shredded ham, cold veal or fowl, beef suet, and chopped onion.

  2. Add breadcrumbs, yolks of hard-boiled eggs, cayenne pepper, parsley, white pepper, and nutmeg, then mix well and bind the mixture with the beaten egg.

  3. Ensure the mixture is consistent enough to cut with a knife but not dry or heavy.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 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

Beaten egg
Binds the mixture together so it holds its shape when cut.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and fat, helping the forcemeat hold together without becoming greasy.
Beef suet
Adds fat that keeps the forcemeat moist and tender once cooked.
Shredded ham
Contributes savoury, salty flavour and meaty body to the mixture.

The step that matters

Judging the binding consistency. If the mixture is too dry it will crumble when cut, and if it is too heavy or wet it will be dense and greasy. The breadcrumbs and beaten egg must be balanced against the fat so the texture is firm yet tender.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, beef, onion, egg, pepper, parsley):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, beef, onion, egg, pepper, parsley. 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.

More forcemeat recipes

Balls 27Fish 25Veal 24Chestnut 18Hare 17Suet 13 See all 56 →

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