Why it works: Mutton and ham work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 430 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Hare Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Mix the diced hare, mutton, ham, spices, salt, long pepper, and egg yolks together.
Line a mould with fat bacon.
Fill the mould with the meat mixture.
Bake and serve
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes.
Let it cool, then dip the mould in warm water to release the cake.
Serve with chopped aspic or savory jelly.
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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Mutton + hamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together430 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Mutton + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,648 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Hare
- Provides the main meat flavour and the firm, sliceable body of the cake.
- Mutton
- Adds more meat and fat, supporting a rich, savory texture.
- Ham
- Contributes salty, cured meat flavour to the mixture.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the diced meats together and help the cake set as it bakes.
- Fat bacon
- Lines the mould, adding fat and savory flavour to the outside of the cake.
The step that matters
Letting the cake cool before unmoulding. Egg yolks set as they cool, so the cake holds its shape. Unmoulding while hot may cause it to crumble or tear.
“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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