Name: Filling for Tamales No. 2
Ingredients: 2 cups boiled veal or chicken, ground; 2 large red peppers, chopped; 1 onion, chopped; 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper; 1 teaspoon salt

Why it works: Pepper and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Filling for Tamales No. 2

Ingredients

Directions

Grind the boiled veal or chicken.
Chop the red peppers and onion.
In a bowl, mix the ground meat with the chopped peppers and onion.
Add cayenne pepper and salt, and mix thoroughly.

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.

Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,841 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,049 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal or chicken: Provides the bulk and protein that make up the body of the filling.
Red peppers: Add moisture and a mild sweetness that balance the heat of the cayenne.
Onion: Adds savory aroma and moisture to the meat mixture.
Cayenne pepper: Adds sharp heat that flavours the whole filling evenly.