Why it works: Parsley and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,062 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Forcemeat
Ingredients
Directions
Shred the cold veal or fowl, ham, and beef suet.
Mix in the bread crumbs, parsley, white pepper, salt, nutmeg, and beaten egg, then pound the mixture in a mortar until well combined.
Use the forcemeat to stuff fowls or meat as desired.
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.
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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,032 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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White pepper + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,375 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold veal or fowl
- Provides the main meaty body and texture of the forcemeat.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat that keeps the forcemeat moist and tender as it cooks.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb liquid and give the mixture a light, binding body.
- Beaten egg
- Binds the ingredients together so the forcemeat holds its shape.
The step that matters
Pounding the mixture until well combined. Thorough pounding breaks down the meat and distributes the fat and binders evenly, so the forcemeat sets into a smooth, cohesive stuffing rather than a crumbly or greasy one.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, beef, bread, parsley, nutmeg, egg):
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, beef, bread, parsley, nutmeg, 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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