Why it works: Meat and ham match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,095 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-methylbutanol, which smells malty, whiskey. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Combine game and leftover meat in a soup kettle.
Add wine or beer and fill with water.
Start cooking early in the morning to allow the game to stew and extract its juices.
Finish the soup
In the evening, remove the game and add veal gravy, ham, green onions, pepper, and salt.
Let it stew until the flavors are fully extracted.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Meat + hamtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).
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Veal + hamtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Onion + peppertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,463 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pheasant + meattop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together91 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Meat + oniontop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together6,358 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Game
- Provides the main meaty flavor and rich juices as it stews.
- Wine or beer
- Adds acidity and depth that help draw flavor out of the game.
- Veal gravy
- Adds body and savory richness to the broth.
- Ham
- Contributes salty, smoky meat flavor to the soup.
- Green onions
- Add a mild aromatic sharpness to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Remove the game before adding the gravy and ham. Once the game has given up its juices, leaving it in long simmering can overcook the meat and dull the broth, so it is taken out before the final flavorings go in.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pheasant, meat, wine, veal, ham, pepper):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Tomatobetter flavor fit
- Carrotabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pheasant, meat, wine, veal, ham, pepper. 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).
“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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