Why it works: Nutmeg and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Veal Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Cut steaks from the neck or breast of veal.
Season with pepper, coarse sea salt, nutmeg, and a little clove powder.
Slice sweetbreads and season them similarly.
Lay puff pastry on the edge of a pie dish.
Layer the veal, hard-boiled egg yolks, sweetbreads, and oysters in the dish.
Cover with thin slices of ham and fill the dish with water.
Cover the dish and bake until done.
After baking, pour warmed veal gravy and cream through a funnel into the pie.
Cover the crust with paper to prevent over-browning.
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.
-
Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Oyster + hamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together360 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, nutmeg, egg, oyster, ham, cream):
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Celeryfits about as well
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, nutmeg, egg, oyster, ham, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More veal pie recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Veal Patties50 recipes
Mock Oyster Soup21 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes
Corn Fritters6 recipes