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Liver Forcemeat

A forcemeat made from lamb liver, ham fat, shallot, parsley, panade, and egg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Liver Forcemeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the lamb's liver into pieces.

Cook

  1. Fry the liver with the ham fat, shallot, and parsley until cooked.

  2. Let the mixture cool.

Make the pâté

  1. Pound the cooled mixture in a mortar until it forms a paste.

  2. Blend in the panade and the whole egg until well combined.

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. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Lamb + parsleytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Lamb + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together160 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Lamb + shallottop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together147 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Lamb's liver
Forms the main body of the pâté and gives it its rich, savory flavor.
Ham fat
Adds fat for moistness and a smooth, rich texture in the finished paste.
Panade
Adds moisture and softness, helping the pâté stay tender rather than dense.
Whole egg
Binds the mixture so it holds together as a cohesive paste.

The step that matters

Let the mixture cool before pounding. If the cooked liver and fat are still hot, the fat can melt and separate, and the egg may scramble when blended in. Cooling keeps the emulsion stable and the texture smooth.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, liver, ham, parsley, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits about as well
  2. Shallotthe original
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, liver, ham, parsley, egg. 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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