Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Veal Cutlet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the veal cutlets in salt water for a short time, then remove and pat dry.
Heat lard or butter in a pan until hot.
Beat the egg in a plate and place flour on another plate.
Dip each cutlet first in the egg, then in the flour on both sides.
Cook and make the sauce
Fry the cutlets in the hot pan until nearly done, turning carefully once.
When they begin to brown, pour off excess lard and add a little water, butter, and celery seed.
Fry until fully cooked, ensuring the veal is not rare.
In the same pan, add milk, butter, pepper, salt, onion, and parsley, stirring constantly until it boils.
Serve
Pour the sauce over the cutlets and garnish with parsley.
Sift pounded crackers over the dish before serving.
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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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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 cutlets
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking through to become tender when fried.
- Egg
- Binds the flour coating to the veal so it adheres during frying.
- Flour
- Forms a dry coating that helps the crust brown and crisp in the fat.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the sauce, adding creaminess and body as it boils.
- Pounded crackers
- Adds a crumbly, toasty topping that contrasts with the soft veal and sauce.
The step that matters
Fry the cutlets until fully cooked. Veal must reach a fully cooked centre for safety and texture. Frying only until browned can leave the middle undercooked, so the cutlets should be cooked through before serving.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, egg, flour, pepper, celery, milk):
- Leekfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, egg, flour, pepper, celery, milk. 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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