Why it works: Meat and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,594 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Gravy for Roast Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gravy
Mix salt with boiling water.
Gradually pour this mixture over the brown parts of the meat, catching the drippings in a dish below.
Once the gravy cools, skim off the fat.
When the meat is done, warm the gravy and serve it in the dish.
Richer variations
For a richer gravy, combine the brown bits with boiling water and boil for 2-3 minutes, then strain.
For roasted veal, mix 3 tablespoons of the brown bits with ½ cup of thin melted butter.
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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Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown bits from roast meat
- Concentrated meat flavour and browned colour that dissolve into the liquid to make the gravy.
- Boiling water
- Dissolves the browned drippings and carries their flavour into a thin, pourable gravy.
- Thin melted butter
- Adds fat, richness and smooth mouthfeel to the brown bits in the roasted veal variation.
The step that matters
Skim off the fat once the gravy cools. Fat from the drippings floats and solidifies as the gravy cools, so removing it first leaves a lighter, less greasy gravy with the meat flavour intact.
“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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