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Shrimps, Potted

A chilled shrimp mixture bound with butter and spices, served in a jar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Shrimp and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,931 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Shrimps, Potted

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the shrimp

  1. Shell the shrimps, ensuring they are freshly boiled.

  2. Chop the shrimps finely.

Make the mixture

  1. In a bowl, mix the chopped shrimps with the butter.

  2. Add cayenne, a pinch of nutmeg, and salt to taste.

Pot and chill

  1. Pack the mixture into a jar and refrigerate until set.

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. Shrimp + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,931 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  2. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Shrimp + nutmegtop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together416 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Shrimps
Provide the main flavour and the bulk of the pot's texture.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, binding the shrimp and setting firm when chilled.

The step that matters

Refrigerate until set. Butter solidifies as it cools, which holds the chopped shrimp together. Packing the mixture firmly and chilling it fully before serving keeps the pot sliceable and prevents it from being loose or soft.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (shrimp, butter):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against shrimp, butter. 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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