Name: Force Meat Balls
Ingredients: 1 pound chopped veal or other meat; 1 egg; 1 tablespoon butter or 1 pound raw pork, chopped fine; 1 cup bread crumbs; warm water or water from stewed meat; coarse sea salt to taste; red pepper to taste

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Force Meat Balls

Ingredients

1 pound chopped veal or other meat
1 egg
1 tablespoon butter or 1 pound raw pork, chopped fine
1 cup bread crumbs
warm water or water from stewed meat
coarse sea salt to taste
red pepper to taste

Directions

In a bowl, mix the chopped meat, egg, butter or raw pork, and bread crumbs.
Moisten the mixture with warm water or water from stewed meat.
Season with coarse sea salt and red pepper.
Form the mixture into small balls.
Fry the balls in a pan until they are browned.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Bread + meattop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,964 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Butter + meattop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,594 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).