Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Veal Cutlets From the Fillet or Leg
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cutlets
Remove the bone from the veal flank and cut into ½ inch thick slices.
Beat the egg yolks until light.
Mix the grated bread with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and parsley.
Lightly beat the veal slices and wash one side with egg.
Cover the egg side with the bread mixture, pressing it on with a knife.
Let the cutlets stand to dry slightly.
Turn the cutlets gently and repeat the egg and bread crumb process on the other side.
Fry and stew
Heat boiling lard in a pan and fry the cutlets until light brown.
Prepare gravy by seasoning with curry powder, wine, and lemon pickle.
Thicken the gravy with butter and brown flour.
Drain excess lard from the cutlets and place them in the gravy.
Stew the cutlets in the gravy for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve
Serve garnished with thin lemon slices.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Bind the bread crumbs to the veal so the coating adheres.
- Grated bread
- Forms a crisp, golden crust around the cutlet when fried.
- Curry powder
- Adds warm, aromatic spice flavor to the gravy.
- Butter and brown flour
- Thickens the gravy and adds a toasty, rich body.
- Lemon pickle
- Adds sharp, acidic tang that balances the rich gravy.
The step that matters
Frying the breaded cutlets. Lard must be fully heated before the cutlets go in. Hot fat sets the egg and crumb coating quickly and browns it, while cool fat lets the coating soak up grease and fall off.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, egg, bread, pepper, parsley, wine, lemon):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg, bread, pepper, parsley, wine, lemon. 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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