Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Veal Cutlet in Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat together the yolks of the eggs, water, flour, melted butter, and grated cheese.
Whip the egg whites to a stiff froth and gently fold into the batter.
Set aside for 2 to 3 hours.
Fry the veal
Cut the veal cutlet into pieces the size of your palm.
Dip each piece into the batter and drop into hot cooking fat.
Cook only 2 or 3 pieces at a time unless using a large kettle.
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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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,381 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites give the batter lightness, and the yolks add richness and binding.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the batter that coats and holds onto the veal.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savory flavor and helps the coating brown as it fries.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, flavorful coating.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Egg whites should be whipped to a stiff froth and folded in gently so air is kept in the batter. Overmixing deflates the foam, leaving a denser coating that may not puff and stay light when fried.
“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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