Name: Sweet Patties Resembling Mince Pies
Ingredients: meat from 1 boiled calf's foot; 2 large apples, peeled and cored; 2 ounces candy peel, finely shredded; 4 ounces pounded lump sugar; 4 ounces beef marrow; a little grated nutmeg; 4 ounces currants, well washed and dried; 1 glass of wine

Why it works: Apple and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,207 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Sweet Patties Resembling Mince Pies

Ingredients

meat from 1 boiled calf's foot
2 large apples, peeled and cored
2 ounces candy peel, finely shredded
4 ounces pounded lump sugar
4 ounces beef marrow
a little grated nutmeg
4 ounces currants, well washed and dried
1 glass of wine

Directions

Chop the meat from the boiled calf's foot and the apples very fine.
Mix the chopped meat and apples with the candy peel, pounded sugar, beef marrow, nutmeg, currants, and wine.
Line patty pans with the mixture.
Cut lids from pastry using a patty cutter and place them on top of the filled pans.
Sprinkle pounded sugar over the patties 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.

Apple + winetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,207 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Meat + beeftop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,533 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Apple + curranttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,918 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,790 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Currant + winetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,323 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

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

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, apple, sugar, beef, nutmeg, wine):

Figfits better
Grapefits better
Pearfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, apple, sugar, beef, nutmeg, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.