Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Pigs' Pettitoes
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the pettitoes until tender.
Boil the heart, liver, and lights for about 10 minutes, then shred them small.
Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, then add the minced meat, white wine, and a little salt. Bring to a gentle boil.
Beat the egg yolk with cream and grated nutmeg, then add to the mince and heat until hot, but do not boil.
Place sippets in a dish, pour the mixture over, and garnish with sliced lemon.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, flour, butter, white wine, egg, cream, nutmeg):
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Vanillafits about as well
- Applefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against liver, flour, butter, white wine, egg, cream, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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