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Superior Suet Forcemeat, for Veal, Turkeys, &C.

A suet-based forcemeat mixture of bread crumbs, herbs, and eggs, formed into balls and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Superior Suet Forcemeat, for Veal, Turkeys, &C.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the forcemeat

  1. Mix the bread crumbs and chopped suet together in a bowl.

  2. Add parsley, salt, cayenne, mace, and nutmeg and mix well.

  3. Incorporate the egg yolks and milk until smooth.

  4. Pound the mixture in a mortar until perfectly smooth.

  5. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes.

Shape and fry

  1. Roll into balls and flour them lightly.

  2. Fry the balls gently for 7 to 8 minutes until golden brown.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Bread crumbs
Provide the bulk and absorb moisture so the mixture holds together.
Beef kidney suet
Adds fat that keeps the meatballs moist and rich as they cook.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture and help it set firmly when heated.
Milk
Adds moisture that softens the crumbs and loosens the mixture.

The step that matters

Frying gently. High heat browns the outside before the centre sets, leaving the forcemeat raw or greasy inside. Gentle frying lets the egg set through while the flour coating turns golden.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, beef, parsley, pepper, nutmeg, egg, milk):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, beef, parsley, pepper, nutmeg, egg, milk. 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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