Why it works: Ham and veal are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,264 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Veal and Ham Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the ham
Fry the slices of cold boiled ham in their own fat until heated through.
Remove the ham to a hot chafing dish.
Prepare the cutlets
Flatten the veal cutlets with the broad side of a hatchet, then season with salt and pepper.
Dip the cutlets in beaten egg and coat with cracker crumbs.
Fry and serve
Fry the cutlets in the same fat, adding a little lard if necessary.
Layer the cutlets in overlapping alternation with the ham on a hot dish.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Ham + vealtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together6,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together6,845 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 cutlets
- Provide the main meat, which tenderizes when flattened and browns when fried.
- Cold boiled ham
- Adds salty, savoury flavour and fat that is rendered for frying the cutlets.
- Egg
- Binds the cracker crumbs to the veal so the coating stays on during frying.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating that browns in the hot fat.
- Lard
- Supplies extra fat for frying, helping the coating brown evenly.
The step that matters
Frying the coated cutlets. The egg and crumb coating can slide off or burn if the fat is not hot enough or the pan is crowded. Hot fat sets the egg quickly and browns the crumbs, while adding lard when the fat runs low keeps the cutlets from sticking and scorching.
“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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