Name: Bondi Netfes of Veal, Rabbit, Chicken, &C.
Ingredients: 1 pound finely minced cold meat; ¼ pound mashed potatoes or very fine breadcrumbs; 1 tablespoon minced parsley or sweet herbs; pepper to taste; coarse sea salt to taste; gravy (made from bones); butter for greasing cups

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Bondi Netfes of Veal, Rabbit, Chicken, &C.

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

1 pound finely minced cold meat
¼ pound mashed potatoes or very fine breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon minced parsley or sweet herbs
pepper to taste
coarse sea salt to taste
gravy (made from bones)
butter for greasing cups

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine the minced meat, mashed potatoes or breadcrumbs, parsley or herbs, pepper, and salt.
Moisten the mixture with a little gravy.

Bake and serve

Press the mixture into well-buttered cups.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Turn the cups onto a hot dish, pour a little browned gravy around, and garnish with a sprig of parsley.

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together786 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold meat: Forms the main body of the cups and provides the savory flavor.
Mashed potatoes or breadcrumbs: Binds the minced meat so the cups hold their shape when turned out.
Gravy: Moistens the mixture so it stays tender rather than dry during baking.

The step that matters

Pressing the mixture into the cups. The mixture must be packed firmly into well-buttered cups so it holds together and releases cleanly when turned onto the dish. Loose packing can cause the cups to crumble.

Swap the potato

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

Carrotfits about as well
Shallotfits about as well
Potatothe original
Capsicumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, parsley, pepper, 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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Bondi Netfes of Veal, Rabbit, Chicken, &C.