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Veal Loaf

A loaf of veal mixed with crumbs, stock, eggs, pork fat, herbs, and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA rather hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a rather hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the loaf

  1. Chop veal and pork finely.

  2. Add cracker crumbs, seasoning, 2 beaten eggs, and 1 cup stock; mix well with hands.

  3. Butter a flat-cake pan and form the mixture into a loaf 4 inches high and 5 inches wide.

Bake and serve

  1. Beat the third egg and spread it on the loaf with a brush; sprinkle with fine bread crumbs.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 3 hours, basting frequently with ½ cup stock and 2 tbsp melted butter.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together214 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Marjoram + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together125 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + summer savorytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together299 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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 loaf and gives it a firm, sliceable body when cooked.
Eggs
Bind the chopped meat and set when baked, holding the loaf together.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb liquid and help bind the meat so the loaf stays moist and cohesive.
Stock
Adds moisture to the mixture, and basting keeps the surface from drying during long baking.
Fat salt pork
Adds fat that keeps the lean veal moist and adds richness as it renders.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the surface brown while basting.

The step that matters

Basting during the long bake. Veal is lean and the loaf bakes for hours, so regular basting with stock and butter keeps the surface moist and helps it brown rather than dry out.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, egg, pork, bread, thyme, marjoram, summer savory):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg, pork, bread, thyme, marjoram, summer savory. 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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