Why it works: Flour and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Pie of Cold Veal
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Season the veal with salt and pepper.
Make the crust
Make a dough by mixing flour and butter.
Line the bottom and sides of a deep pie dish with the dough.
Assemble and bake
Place the seasoned veal in the dish and add some cold gravy.
Cover the top with more dough, leaving an opening in the center.
Decorate the opening with leaves of dough.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until the crust is brown, then serve.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Veal + buttertop 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
- Veal
- Provides the meat filling that becomes tender during the long bake.
- Flour
- Forms the dough structure that holds the pie together and crisps when baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the crust tender and promotes browning.
- Cold gravy
- Adds moisture to the filling so the meat stays juicy inside the pie.
The step that matters
Bake until the crust is brown. The crust must be fully browned for flavor and structure. Butter and flour brown through Maillard reactions at oven heat, so underbaked dough stays pale and doughy.
“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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