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Rissoles of Corned Beef

A fried patty made from finely chopped corned beef, onion, flour, and seasonings, coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Rissoles of Corned Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Chop the corned beef very finely and the onion.

  2. Lightly fry the onion in a little dripping, then add the beef.

  3. Stir for a few seconds, then add the flour and stock.

  4. Season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and parsley.

  5. Spread the mixture on a plate to cool.

Make the pastry

  1. In a bowl, mix the flour with a pinch of salt.

  2. Rub in the dripping or butter until smooth.

  3. Add a little water to form a stiff paste.

  4. Roll out the paste on a floured board to about ¼ inch thick.

  5. Stamp out rounds about 3 inches in diameter.

Shape and fry

  1. Place some of the meat mixture in the center of each round.

  2. Brush the edges with beaten egg or water.

  3. Fold over to form a half circle.

  4. Press the edges to seal.

  5. Dip the rissoles in the beaten egg.

  6. Coat with bread crumbs.

  7. Fry in hot fat until golden.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Corned beef
Provides the main savoury filling and meaty flavour of the rissoles.
Flour
Builds the structure of the pastry and thickens the filling as it cooks.
Dripping or butter
Adds richness and tenderness to the pastry, and helps it brown when fried.
Egg
Binds the coating and helps the bread crumbs stick and turn golden.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aroma to the savoury filling when lightly fried.

The step that matters

Press the edges to seal. If the edges are not sealed firmly, the filling can leak out during frying, and the rissole may open or lose its shape in hot fat.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour, parsley, nutmeg, pepper, butter, egg):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour, parsley, nutmeg, pepper, butter, 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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