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Brain Fritters

Brain fritters are fried pieces of boiled calf or pig brains coated in batter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Brain Fritters

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the brains

  1. Wash the brains in salt and water, then place them in a saucepan with cold water to cover, 2 teaspoons of vinegar, and a little coarse sea salt.

  2. Boil for about 5 minutes, then let them cool in cold water.

  3. Drain well, cut into neat pieces, and sprinkle with oil, parsley, shallot, 1 teaspoon of vinegar, and a little salt and pepper.

  4. Marinate for about 30 minutes, turning them two or three times.

Fry and serve

  1. Prepare the batter, coat each piece carefully, and fry in hot fat until nicely browned.

  2. Drain well and serve on a folded napkin, garnished with fried parsley.

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 + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  2. Shallot + vinegartop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Parsley + vinegartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,477 recipes

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

  5. Butter + shallottop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's or pig's brains
Provide the soft, creamy interior that contrasts with the crisp batter.
Frying batter
Forms a crisp, golden coating that seals in moisture during frying.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the brains.

The step that matters

Frying in hot fat. If the fat is not hot enough, the batter absorbs oil and turns greasy instead of crisp and browned. Hot fat sets the coating quickly, keeping the brains moist inside.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, shallot, vinegar):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Thymefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, shallot, vinegar. 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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