Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine the meat, suet (or fat), salt, cloves, mace, and cayenne. Mix in any optional ingredients for added flavor.
Bake
Shape the mixture into cakes and place them in a baking dish.
Bake for 2 hours until cooked through.
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.
-
Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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
- Lean beef or mutton
- Provides the main protein that sets firm and gives the cakes their body.
- Suet (or chopped fat)
- Adds fat that keeps the cakes moist and tender as they bake.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and helps draw out flavor throughout the mixture.
- Ground cloves
- Contributes a warm, aromatic spice flavor.
- Ground mace
- Adds a delicate, warm aroma that complements the meat.
The step that matters
Shape and bake for the full 2 hours. Meat mixtures need enough time at oven heat for the proteins to set and the centre to reach a safe, fully cooked temperature. Pulling the cakes early can leave them underdone inside, while the fat keeps them from drying out during a long, steady bake.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, clove, mace, pepper):
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
- Turnipfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, clove, mace, pepper. 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.
More meat cakes recipes
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipes
Beef Broth67 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.