Name: Marbled Veal
Ingredients: 1 piece of veal from the round; loose lean scraps of veal; 1 bone (if convenient); cold water; 4-5 hard-boiled eggs; coarse sea salt; black pepper; sweet marjoram; small dice of boiled ham; flour; 1 tablespoon melted gelatine (if no stock is available)

Why it works: Pepper and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

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 + marjoramtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,609 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Marjoram + flourtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,265 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,264 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Veal: Provides the meat that forms the body and flavour of the marbled loaf.
Eggs: Sliced hard-boiled egg adds visible pattern and a firm, pale contrast to the meat.
Gelatine: Sets the liquid into a firm jelly when stock is not available.
Flour: Lightly thickens the layers so the filling holds together when sliced.
Boiled ham: Adds savoury, salty flavour and a contrasting colour to the layers.