Name: Very Savoury Rissoles
Ingredients: Forcemeat No. 1 (firm enough to roll thin); Pounded chicken; Butter for frying; Water or egg white for sealing

Why it works: Chicken and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,902 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓

Very Savoury Rissoles

Ingredients

Forcemeat No. 1 (firm enough to roll thin)
Pounded chicken
Butter for frying
Water or egg white for sealing

Directions

Roll the forcemeat thin on a well-floured board.
Cut it into very small rounds.
Place a little pounded chicken in the center of half the rounds.
Moisten the edges with water or egg white.
Cover with the remaining rounds and seal securely.
Fry in butter until golden brown.
Drain and dry well before serving.

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.

Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,902 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Chicken + eggtop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,991 recipes

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