Name: Scollops of Meat, Poultry, or Game a Breakfast Dish
Ingredients: ½ pound cold, unsalted meat (or a mixture of meats, poultry, or game); ¼ teaspoon fine salt; a pinch of cayenne pepper; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; gravy (preferably from roast meat); 1 slice of bread (for crumbs); 1 tablespoon butter (for greasing and topping); additional butter for greasing

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scollops of Meat, Poultry, or Game a Breakfast Dish

Ingredients

½ pound cold, unsalted meat (or a mixture of meats, poultry, or game)
¼ teaspoon fine salt
a pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon black pepper
gravy (preferably from roast meat)
1 slice of bread (for crumbs)
1 tablespoon butter (for greasing and topping)
additional butter for greasing

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 the meat

Mince the cold meat as finely as possible.
Season the minced meat with salt, cayenne, and black pepper.
Moisten the meat with gravy until well combined.

Assemble

Rub the slice of bread into fine crumbs and season with salt and pepper.
Grease a tin scollop or dish with butter.
Spread a third of the crumbs evenly in the dish.
Add the seasoned meat on top of the crumbs.
Cover the meat with the remaining crumbs and press down evenly.
Dot the top with small pieces of butter.

Bake and serve

Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 25 minutes.
Serve immediately on a 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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,964 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,594 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,777 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold meat: Forms the savoury filling that is bound together and baked in the dish.
Gravy: Moistens the minced meat so it holds together and stays tender during baking.
Bread crumbs: Form layers above and below the meat that absorb juices and help the dish hold its shape.
Butter: Adds richness and moisture to the crumbs and browns the top during baking.

The step that matters

Mincing the meat finely and moistening it evenly. Finely minced meat mixed evenly with gravy binds into a cohesive, tender filling. Large pieces or dry patches stay tough and crumble when served.

“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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Scollops of Meat, Poultry, or Game a Breakfast Dish