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Corn-beef Croquettes

A fried croquette made with mashed potatoes, chopped beef, butter, cream, eggs, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and parsley 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 ↓

Corn-beef Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Pass the mashed potatoes through a colander.

  2. Add the butter to the hot potatoes, then mix in the cream, 1 egg, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Beat thoroughly.

  3. Mix the chopped beef into the potato mixture, ensuring there is no gristle.

Shape and coat

  1. Shape the mixture into rolls about 1 x 2 inches long, ensuring a smooth surface.

  2. Place the rolls on a floured tray and refrigerate while you prepare the other egg and bread crumbs.

  3. Roll the croquettes in the beaten egg, then in the bread crumbs, and let them sit for 1 to 2 hours if possible.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat the lard in a pan until it is 2 inches deep and boiling.

  2. Carefully place the croquettes in a frying basket and plunge them into the hot lard.

  3. Fry until golden brown, then drain on paper towels.

  4. Serve with parsley and lemon on a folded napkin.

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. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

  2. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  3. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Potato + beeftop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  5. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Form the bulk of the filling and give the croquettes a soft, tender interior.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, making the potato mixture smooth and flavorful.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness to the potato mixture, keeping it easy to shape.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and, beaten, form a coating that helps crumbs stick.
Beef
Provides the savory meat flavor and substance of the filling.
Bread or cracker crumbs
Form a crisp outer crust that browns during frying.

The step that matters

Fry until golden brown in boiling lard. The lard must be hot enough that the outside sets and browns quickly. If the fat is too cool, the croquettes absorb grease and turn heavy and soggy instead of crisp.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, cream, nutmeg, egg, beef, bread):

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, cream, nutmeg, egg, beef, bread. 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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