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Forcemeat of Beef

A fried ball of minced beef, mashed potatoes, eggs, herbs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓

Forcemeat of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, combine cold mashed potatoes, minced beef, savory herbs, pepper, and coarse sea salt.

  2. Mix in 2 eggs to form a paste.

Shape and fry

  1. Shape the mixture into balls.

  2. Fry the balls in butter until they are rich brown.

Serve

  1. Garnish 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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 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. Potato + beeftop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Cold mashed potatoes
Provide bulk and moisture that keep the forcemeat tender and easy to shape.
Slices of beef, minced fine
Supply the savory meat flavour and the main protein structure of the forcemeat.
2 eggs
Bind the mixture together so it holds its shape when formed into balls.
Butter
Conducts heat for frying and promotes browning and a rich flavour on the outside.

The step that matters

Fry the balls in butter until they are rich brown. Frying over moderate heat browns the surface through the Maillard reaction, adding flavour and colour. Too little heat leaves the balls pale, while too much can scorch the butter before the interior is heated through.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Chivefits about as well
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Capsicumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, egg, butter, parsley. 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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