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Stewing, Hashing, &C

A hash of leeks, brains, and eggs simmered in brown gravy and port wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Stewing, Hashing, &C

Ingredients

Directions

Make the hash

  1. Fry the chopped leeks and lemon peel until browned.

  2. Add the brown gravy and meat.

  3. Let it stew gently for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Make the brain cakes

  1. Chop the boiled brains with sage, thyme, bread crumbs, and flour.

  2. Form the chopped brains into small cakes.

  3. Brush the cakes with beaten egg.

  4. Fry the cakes until browned.

Make the yolk balls and serve

  1. Pound the hard-boiled yolks with raw yolks and flour.

  2. Roll the mixture into small balls.

  3. Add the yolk balls to the hash 10 minutes before serving.

  4. Stir in a glass of port wine.

  5. Serve the hash on a dish.

  6. Garnish with brain cakes and lemon.

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. Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

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

  2. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

  3. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Lemon + sagetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together887 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Leek + lemontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together162 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Leeks
Soften and sweeten as they fry, adding body and savoury flavour to the hash.
Brown gravy
Provides the liquid that stews the meat and carries the hash's savoury flavour.
Boiled brains
Form the main body of the brain cakes, setting firm when bound and fried.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and help bind the chopped brains into cakes.
Hard-boiled egg yolks
Pounded with raw yolks and flour to form a rich, binding mixture for the yolk balls.
Raw egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the pounded yolk mixture into shapeable balls.

The step that matters

Fry the brain cakes until browned. Brains are soft and delicate, so the cakes need a firm egg coating and gentle, steady heat to brown without falling apart or drying out.

“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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