Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Fricassee of Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Fry the pork slices in a pan until browned, then remove the pork.
Season the veal with salt and pepper.
Roll the veal in flour.
Brown the veal and make the gravy
Place the veal in the hot fat, frying until browned on both sides, then take out the veal.
Stir the remaining flour into the fat.
Add the cold water gradually.
Stir constantly until the gravy boils.
Finish
Return the browned veal to the pan.
Simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil once.
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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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Veal + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Veal + tomatotop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together709 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender as it simmers in the gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a gravy as its starch swells when heated.
- Salt pork fat
- Provides cooking fat that browns the veal and adds savory flavor to the gravy.
- Water
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into the gravy.
- Strained tomatoes
- Adds acidity and a bright tomato flavor that balances the rich gravy.
The step that matters
Add the cold water gradually. Flour mixed into hot fat clumps easily. Adding the liquid slowly while stirring constantly lets the starch disperse evenly, so the gravy thickens smooth instead of lumpy.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pork, pepper, flour):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, pepper, flour. 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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