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Rissoles

A fried chicken patty coated in breadcrumbs, flavored with lemon peel, onion, spices, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Rissoles

Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Rissoles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine the chopped chicken, lemon peel, onion, white pepper, salt, nutmeg, and mace, then mix in the butter and cream until well combined.

  2. If using puff pastry, wrap the mixture in thin sheets shaped like sausages.

  3. Brush the tops with egg yolk and coat with fine bread crumbs.

Cook and serve

  1. Fry in hot oil until golden brown.

  2. Serve garnished with crimped parsley.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,695 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Provides the main body of the filling, holding the rissole together once cooked.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the filling and aids browning in the pan.
Egg yolk
Brushed on the tops, it promotes golden browning and helps the bread crumbs adhere.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden outer coating that helps the rissoles keep their shape while frying.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness to the filling, keeping it tender rather than dry.

The step that matters

Fry in hot oil until golden brown. Oil that is hot enough sears the crumb coating quickly, so it crisps before the filling dries out. Oil that is too cool lets the coating soak up grease and turn heavy.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, lemon, onion, nutmeg, mace, butter, cream):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, lemon, onion, nutmeg, mace, butter, cream. 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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