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Savory Rice and Brains

A savory rice dish cooked with calf brains, cheese, and egg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,379 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Savory Rice and Brains

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the rice

  1. Combine rice, gravy or broth, and boiling water in a pot.

  2. Season with salt and pepper, then bring to a boil.

  3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until rice is tender.

Finish with brains

  1. Stir in grated cheese and beaten egg.

  2. Add the brains, cooking gently until heated through.

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. Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,379 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Rice + cheesetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together942 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

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

  4. Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,350 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  5. Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 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

Rice
Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the liquid as it simmers.
Egg
Binds the rice and cheese together and adds richness as it sets.
Grated cheese
Adds savory flavor and a creamy, rich texture to the rice.
Brains of a calf
Provide the main protein and a soft, rich texture when gently heated.

The step that matters

Adding the beaten egg. Egg sets when heated, so stirring it into rice that is too hot can scramble it into lumps. Stir it in off the heat or at low heat so it blends smoothly.

“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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