Why it works: Pork and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,214 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pressed Veal
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the filling
Remove the rind and lean from the salt pork and chop it finely.
Chop the veal and mix it thoroughly with the chopped pork.
Season the mixture well with pepper and the chopped onion or summer savory.
Bake and serve
Press the mixture closely into a pudding dish, cover it, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 2 hours.
Let it cool and serve cold.
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.
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + vealtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,841 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
- Veal
- Forms the bulk of the dish, setting firm as it bakes and cools.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and moisture, keeping the lean veal from drying out during baking.
The step that matters
Pressing the mixture closely into the dish. Packing the meat tightly removes air pockets so the pressed loaf holds together when sliced cold. Loose packing can crumble or leave gaps after baking and cooling.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, veal, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, veal, pepper. 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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